


Miraculous Alliance Season Two: Venom

by KivatheDCWizard



Series: Miraculous Alliance Series [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adrinette | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Other, Post-Season/Series 02 AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:21:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 53,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KivatheDCWizard/pseuds/KivatheDCWizard
Summary: After dealing with Hawkmoth, the Miraculous Team continues to watch over Paris. But Hawkmoth was not the last threat, just A threat. The barrier between the human and magical world still thins, releasing magical beings in Paris at random. Nathalie and Emilie are still in coma, and a new threat is on the horizon.The heroes are stronger and more numerous then ever, but they need to stand together if they want to continue to assure Paris' safety.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Bridgette/Félix (Miraculous Ladybug PV), Chloé Bourgeois/Luka Couffaine, Emma Agreste/Original Character(s), Ivan Bruel/Mylène Haprèle, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Kagami Tsurugi/Original Character(s), Lê Chiến Kim/Ondine, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Sabine Cheng/Tom Dupain
Series: Miraculous Alliance Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1753612
Comments: 98
Kudos: 47





	1. Latombe, Part I

**Author's Note:**

> A refresher/reminder about the Miraculous wielders aside the main five
> 
> Lila Rossi/Pipistrello
> 
> Kagami Tsuguri/Ryuko
> 
> Sabrina Raincomprix/Laika
> 
> Max Kante/Pegasus
> 
> Kim Le Chien/Roi Singe
> 
> Mylene Haprele/Petit Souris
> 
> Ivan Bruel/Taurus
> 
> Marc Anciel/Pan
> 
> Nathaniel Kurtzberg/Kempfhahn
> 
> Alix Kubdel/Bunnyx
> 
> Rose Lavillant/Porcelet
> 
> Juleka Couffaine/Tigresse
> 
> Luka Couffaine/Viperion

MIRACULOUS ALLIANCE SEASON TWO: VENOM

EPISODE 1: LATOMBE, PART I

Two months. It has been two months since Paris' greatest supervillain (technically only supervillain at the time) was taken down. Paris was safe. Mostly. A little safer. At times there were still magical beasts going through the barrier separating the human and magical world. But Paris didn't worry. Yeah, when a magical monster like an ogre or an orc rampaged it was scary as hell but they were not doubting at all that the situation would be resolved.

The Miraculous Team was bigger then ever, and whenever there was a situation, the core team of Ladybug, Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Queen Bee, Carapace and recently Pipistrello, would come in to deal with it, at times with the help of a few of the 'Zodiac wielders' as they were known. Just like it was now. 

Paris was burning. Several building were on fire. The firemen of Paris were really busy keeping the fires under control. "It isn't working! The water is being blasted at its highest pressure, but the flames don't go down enough." One fireman said to another. 

"Damn it! What kind of fire is this?" the other fireman said. 

All of a sudden a trio of figures emerged from the flames. They looked demonic, like a devil and a hellhound had a sick burning looking lovechild. They had fiery manes coming from their backs and the flames didn't seem to bother them. While most of the magical beasts that have come through the barrier were just wild animals. This one actually spoke a few words. "Burn! Burn it all!" it roared madly as the figures breathed fire everywhere. The fireman ran for it as their flame breaths set their firetruck on fire, ironically enough. They then roared, and on all fours rushed across the city. 

"What the hell were those?" one of the scared firemen asked.

"Ifrit." a voice said behind them. The Rooster Miraculous wielder Kempfhahn stood there besides them. "Fire Djinns. Normally not native to France so I don't know why they are here but..." the Firemen look at him confused. "Not the time for it." He finished flatly.

"Don't mind him, he has grown to be fascinated by the magical beasts that come through." another voice butted in as a red and black blur. Ladybug had swung on on the scene with her yo-yo. She was soon followed by all Miraculous heroes. "The reports of the fires seemed dire, so I decided to bring in everyone."

"Thank the Lord. These flames are not normal, we can't seem to extinguish them and those...whatever he called them are running rampant. We can't contain this on our own." The fireman said.

"Well, normal fireman are not equipped to deal with magical flames. No worries, you may not feel so hot right now, but we can handle this." Chat Noir said with his usual smirk. The rest of the team groaned at his pun. "Everyone's a critic." 

"So, are we having a plan to deal with those flaming dog genies?" Carapace asked. 

"We need to contain them before they set more buildings on fire. First, Ryuko, I need your water power. You try to hold your water form as long as possible to make sure you can extinguish any fires that may come. I don't know how long you'll have to, but most likely it will be longer then we've seen during training." Ladybug said.

"My resolve is as strong as the metal of which my blade is made." Ryuko said as she raised the sword. She at least hoped it was metal, she wasn't sure. It may as well be a magical substance she may have never heard off. 

"All right. Laika, Pegasus, Petit Souris, Taurus, your skills are needed in evacuating and saving any people still trapped inside. Work with the firemen until we get back." 

"Aye-aye, ma'am!" Laika said with a little salute.

"The rest of you, come along. We need to restrain those Ifrit at any cost before they do more damage." Ladybug said. "And men and women of the firemen department. Please provide my team with any info they may need, or pop some hydrants that may help Ryuko."

"You can count on us, Ladybug." one of the Firemen said.

"We all know our roles, now let's move out!" Ladybug said, raising her hand and giving the signal. All the heroes scrambled to get their job done. 

Immediately, Ryuko raised her blade. "Water Dragon!" she shouted on top of her lungs, and she became a Ryuko-shaped mass of water. She spoke to the firemen "Open the hydrants." she said as she pointed at the red thing in question. The Firemen did as they were told, and a large stream of water came from it, hitting the watery Ryuko, whom grew to enormous size with the added water to her being. She raised her arms and streams of water came out, and began dousing several of the magical Ifrit-created flames. 

"I'm going to split and scout ahead." Petit Souris said. "Multitude!" she called out as she shrank and multiplied, all the little mouse heroes scrambling in the rubble and the burning buildings, to scout for any civilians. 

Laika was hot on their tail. She sniffed the air, hoping she is able to pick out some scents among the smoke. Her sense of smell was superior to that of any normal dog and to that of any of her teammates. "I smell something in the northeast up ahead. I think I also find a few smells coming from a few floors above. Third or fourth floor." 

One Petit Souris came from a gap in the wall. "Affirmative, there is a family in the room up ahead, but they are stuck. Rubble blocks the door, flames closing in. Several of my others are already clearing some but..."

"We got to move fast." Laika finished.

"I can do so." Pegasus said. "But I only have one shot with Horsepower." 

"Let's hold that off for a bit, best when things get more...dire." Laika suggested. They followed the Petit Souris clone and moved ahead. Several Petit Souris clones were carrying off pieces of rubble through their collective girlpower. 

"I can move the bigger pieces of rubble." Taurus said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Do it carefully, with the structural integrity of the building at risk, we cannot shake things up too much." one of the Firemen warned.

"Don't worry about Taurus. He is a Juggernaut, but he can be as gentle as a spring breeze." Petit Souris said. This put a soft smile on Taurus' face as they clear the rubble further.

A family with two kids were behind it, huddled up. They were afraid but most of that fear cleared up upon seeing the firemen and the superheroes. One of the kids, a toddler boy, pointed at Laika. "Puppy-girl!" 

"Yes, I'm the puppy girl, and me and my friends are getting you all out." Laika said softly. "Petit Souris, did your other selves find anyone else?" 

"A family a few floors above. Other then that, saw no other people inside besides us." one fo the Petit Souris said.

"Mousy!" the kid said as she picked up a plushie-sized Petit Souris and hugged it like a stuffed toy. Petit Souris sighed and let her. Probably best to keep the kid calm. 

"We'll get them out safely. Just move along, please." the fireman said as she gently hurried the family along, while a few others used extinguishers to keep the flames at bay. 

However, as that happened, a cracking sound could be heard. "Oh no!" Laika said as she saw one of the support pillars crack.

"I got this!" Taurus said as he positioned himself under the collapsing pillar, and put his super strength into it, using his physical prowess to keep the entire building standing up. "Keep them moving along. Even without Rampage I can hold this building up as long as I need."

Everyone sighed in relief. For a few moments. However, Laika's nose twitched. "Oh crap, I smell gas! Pegasus, Horsepower, now!" 

With a gas leak, every second counted. While the flames were being dealt with by Ryuko, only one stray spark needed to escape. So when he invoked Horsepower, Pegasus put his everything into it and the world around him started to slow down to about a crawl. He then moved out, grabbing the family, went outside and put them down. Then he went back inside. He saw some falling rubble, but to him it slowed down to a point they were softly lowered. So he could 'platform' off the rubble to the upper floors, grabbing the family whom were there, and rush them outside as well.

After that, he grabbed each of the firemen before going back to his teammates. First Laika, whom he was happy to briefly pick up bridal style. Then using the display on the inside of his glasses to track each Petit Souris clone. Because they were so numerous, he had to carry and drop them unceremoniously like a pile of dolls. She would be forgiving about that, knowing her. 

Finally, he dragged out Taurus. Even with his enhanced attributes, Taurus was heavy, but got him out just in time before the building exploded. The others, whom were disoriented by finding themselves from one place to another in a matter of seconds were knocked down by the shockwave but otherwise unharmed. Pegasus panted. "Nailed it." After that he collapsed. 

"You did great, Pegasus." Laika said. 

"I guess I di-" After that he and laika were splattered by some water. Laika's hairstyle was now flat and Pegasus Dreads were now no longer tied back, their hair sloppily draped by the sides of their head.

"Apologies. I did not see you there." the giant watery Ryuko said. The group let out a laug, both out of relief and due to the actual humorous situation. 

The three beastly Ifrits ran through the city, leaving a trail of flames behind where ever they ran. "Ok, everybody knows their part i the plan?" Ladybug asked. The others all nodded. "All, right then, team! Move in!"

Pipistrello held out her hammer in front of her in a way, that judging by the trumpet noises she made, emulates a trumpet as she then shouted: "CHARGE!" The three Ifrits soon found themselves swarmed by the heroes, whom were slowly driving the three-mon pack apart, driving them back while dodging the flames.

The first Ifrit was fighting the group that had Ladybug and Chat Noir. It inhaled and spat a few fireballs. The swinging of the yo-yo and the staff made sure the fireballs are deflected. They felt thier weapons heat up a bit, but it was only briefly. "Down, boy!" Ladybug said.

"I don't like the way it looks at me, Bugaboo...how much dog is there in the Ifrit again?" Chat asked. 

"Burn..." the Ifrit growled. 

"Did it just speak?" Ladybug asked.

"Burn...I burn...you burn! BURN!" the Ifrit engulfed himself in flames as he charged like a fireball at the two the two jumping aside to avoid it. 

"He needs to cool down. In every sense of the word." Chat said. 

"Surround him, divide his attention!" Ladybug said. The two and their battle partners for this scuffle, Roi Singe, Porcelet and Tigresse surrounded them.

"Come on, you big mutt! You want to show yourself the apex predator? I still have to see it!" Tigresse growled. The Ifrit heated up and charged again, but she held out her arms and caught the charging beast in her claws. She felt the heat under her claws, and it was quickly becoming unbearable. She growled but she didn't give in. But she then tossed the beast aside, and as she was digging her claws in at the time, it also caused some cuts in the best's face. 

However, it got up quicker then expected and swiped with his arm and knocked Tigresse back. However, as he wanted to charge in for another blow, he felt something hook in his back and skin. Porcelet's rake was hooked into its back as she pulled at him. "Get away from her, you bitch!" The Ifrit was not happy with the weapon stuck in its back. It got on all fours, charged and dragged her along, before making a sharp turn. Porcelet was thrown off. He raised himself up and inhaled for a fiery attack, but he found himself punched in the gut, causing him to stop charging his flame breath and instead swallow it. It didn't hurt him but it was unpleasant.

"You're not roasting my little pork chop. I'm the only one getting a taste of her." Tigresse smirked. The blush on Porcelet's face was visible. 

The Ifrit growled, but his legs were swept from under him, as Roi Singe stood there, spinning his staff and posing. "You know that in the East they see dogs and monkeys as enemies instead of cats and dogs?" Roi Singe said. "I wonder if there is some truth to that, because I don't like a mutt like you attacking my friends."

"Burn!" the Ifrit growled as he charged at Roi Singe as he jumped up, struck him in the back of his head and flipped forward, his staff landing vertically and standing straight like a pole, and the Monkey King landing gracefully on it and balancing. He pulled his left eyelid down as he stuck out his tongue. The Ifrit grew even angrier. "BURN!" 

The Ifrit felt being hit in the stomach. He doubled over and looked down to see Chat, whom looked at him with an annoyed expression. "All you say is 'burn'. Buy a thesaurus." Chat quipped. 

The Ifrit turned around at Chat, right before he got hit between the eyes by Ladybug's yo-yo. "Ok, you are slightly more verbal then others whom have come through the Veil. I suppose you are a bit smarter too. So I suggest this: You stand down, go back from where you came and stop putting our city on fire. Otherwise, we will have to hurt you."

"I..." the Ifrit wasn't growling as he said that. "I burn...Burning up. I must...BURN!" it said as he charged in again. However, Ladybug was ready this time as she jumps up, plants her feet in his face and kicks him off. Then Porcelet pole-vaults, using her rake to kick the beast in the stomach, pushing him back. Then Chat and Tigress rushed in, claws out and slashing at him, as he was knocked onto the ground. "I wish talking down an enemy would work, just once."

"Maybe someday. But now we get back to what works with any foe: Hitting it really hard!" Chat said. 

"I'm all for that." Tigresse grinned as she showed off her claws. 

"While that sounds satisfying, I think the time has come for Roi Singe to use Uproar." Ladybug said.

"And now the party truly begins! Uproar!" the Monkey Miraculous wielder said as he raised his staff, and a dog plushie came down. "I know my powers are a bit...comedic at times but seriously? Fiery dog genie and dog plushies?"

"I learned from my Lucky Charms or Pipstrello's Random to not question those things too much and roll with it." Ladybug said shrugging.

"Anyhow, let it rip!" Roi Singe said as he threw his plushie. However, the Ifrit wasn't that stupid as he inhaled and shot a fireball form his mouth. It would have destroyed the uproar toy if the fireball wasn't intercepted. 

Luckily Porcelet jumped in, activated her power and swallowed the fireball, just to leap aside in time for the plushie to continue his path onward to the target. As soon as it hit the dog, its fiery mane extinguished and it was only able to cough up smoke. Porcelet also coughed up smoke actually. "That was a spicy meatball." she noted. 

The Ifrit actually looked worried without its firepower. But it recomposed itself, hoping that with its physical strength it would be enough to turn the tide. He was wrong as soon as he got socked with a yo-yo in the face, a pair of staffs in the stomach, and smashed with a rake and some tiger claws. It was soon down for the count.

Rena Rouge and Carapace were fighting the second Ifrit. This Ifrit had smaller horns and was far less bulky. But this one made up with being much more projectile-happy then the other one. It spat out fireballs and streams of flame on a whim. "Burn!" It shouted all the time.

"If I took a shot for every time you said that, I'd be dead by now!" Rena Rouge said as she agilely dodged another fireball. 

"We're going to be dead if we don't get hothead to cool down." Carapace said as he deflected all fire attacks that came in with his shield. 

"We need to find a way to get closer. Someone needs to distract him and then we strike." Rena Rouge suggested.

"Allow me!" Kempfhahn said as he flew in. "As a flying target, I can draw more attention. That and Pan's pixie dust may burn if he tries it head-on." 

"It is not pixie dust." Pan scoffed. "It is not because I'm called Pan we need to use Peter Pan terminology. You're more Peter Pan then me, fly-boy." 

"Let's just get on with the plan." Kempfhahn said as he flew up. "Hey there, Ifrit! Want some roast chicken? Try to fry me!" 

"BURN!" the Ifrit roared as it spew a stream of fire from its mouth. But Kempfhahn flew out of the way of each of the strikes. 

Pan moved in. however, the Ifrit didn't seem as stupid as they thought it was, because when it saw Pan from the corner of its eye, he turned around and fired at him. However, Carapace stepped in between, blocking the fireball with his shield. "You ok?"

"Yes, thanks for the save." Pan replied.

"New plan, I think the best offense..." Carapace charged in, his shield forward. Even as he kept being pelted with fireballs and his shield started to feel hot, he kept charging in. "Is a good defense!" He then got in close enough and whacked the Ifrit with the shield. 

The Ifrit stumbled back and Carapace charged in again with his shield but the Ifrit managed to recover quickly and shot a fireball at Carapace, whom was knocked back. There was a singe mark on his chest, but luckily his powers la in defense, so Carapace was able to get back up. "Well, that worked for about ten seconds." 

"Then we change strats! Mirage!" Rena said as she put her flute to her lips and the battlefield became engulfed in orange mist. Soon, the Ifrit found himself surrounded by a hundred Carapaces, Rena Rouges, Pans and Kemphahnen. He fired at each of the copies he could aim at, all of them avoiding or turning into orange smoke upon being hit. 

However, this time, Pan got close enough and was able to blow his dream dust in the face of the Ifrit. The Ifrit stumbled upon being hit. "Burning...the world is burning..." it muttered. 

"Now that he's out of it, hit him!" Carapace noted. He threw his shield, hitting the beast in the face. Rena followed up with a whack from her flute, Pan with a flying kick and Kempfhahn swooping in with a flying punch, sending the beast flying. 

Queen Bee and Pipistrello went up against the third of the Ifrits. It had a more feminine built then the other two but that didn't make her any less dangerous. It was really fast, and she had the biggest claws, trying to slash at the two Miraculous Girls at any moment. "Burn! You both have to burn!"

"How can you burn us, when you just keep slashing?" Pipistrello asked. The Ifrit retaliated by putting her claws on fire. "Ok, that one is one me."

"You think?" Queen Bee said sarcastically as she flew up to avoid a fiery swipe. She shot her trompo at the beast, whom swatted the trompo aside and slashed the air, creating a fiery crescent wave, which she flew out of the way of. Queen Bee saw that one of the hairs on her head was singing. "That's it! She touched my hair, this is the day bitches gonna die!" She rushed in, but with the heavily swiping fire claws she couldn't. Dang it! 

"It's just some hair." Pipistrello noted. 

"You have your bangs in the shapes of sausages, you don't have a lot of room to talk." Queen Bee growled. 

"Your opinion, girl." Pipistrello said as she flicked her bangs. "Allow me to take over. Hey, fire-nails? What's your fav fruit? You like bananas? Apples? Durians?" The Ifrit swiped at her, but Pipistrello moved around to much for her to be properly hit. "My fav is a kumquat. Not because I like eating it but because I like saying it. It's afunny word. Kumquat, kumquat, kumquat..."

"You annoy me! Burn!" the Ifrit said as she put her claws on fire and let out two crescent waves in an x-shape.

"You always say you want to burn things. You see a building, you burn it. You see me, you burn it. You lost all control over your life, missy!" Pipistrello quipped. It didn't nothing to deter the Ifrit. 

"I suggest less annoying it and more kicking its butt!" Bunnyx said as she swooped in, attempted to land a jump kick on the creature, only for it to be blocked by her passive forearm. She lashed with her flaming claws but Bunnyx did a few sick backflips to dodge them. "Oh, it feels good being able to do that." 

"If you can get it to sit still long enough, I can tame the beast with some music." Viperion said as he also moved in. His lyre was at the ready. 

"I would do a time stop, but I need to save up my power for portaling." Bunnyx said as she unfolded her umbrella to block a fireball coming from the Ifrit. 

"Leave that to Queenie and me!" Pipistrello said. "RANDOM!" she said as she raised her hammer. Everyone turned blonde, aside Queen Bee, whom was already blonde. "Well, that could have gone better." 

"Seriously?" Bunnyx said, annoyed with her now blonde hair. 

"Hey, it is the power of randomness. It is not always helpful. At least as blondes we'll have more fun?" Pipistrello suggested.

"I'm not having more fun!" Bunnyx said as she dodged another fiery swipe. "Just smash it with your hammer or something!"

"Oh...right!" Pipistrello aid as she brought down her hammer onto the Ifrit. It blocked with its forearms, but it left her self open for Bunnyx to whack it in the stomach with the umbrella. It was sent stumbling back, where Queen Bee waited and tied it up with her trompo.

"Now, Viperion!" Queen Bee said. The heat was traveling up the wire and she would not be able to hold it.

"Entrancement!" Viperion said as he played his lyre and the Ifrit started to sway.

"Buuuuurn..." it said softly and drawn out. 

The three Ifrits, one powerless, one about asleep and one dazed by the Entrancement, regrouped, barely able to stand. "But...the burn. Burn..."

"They still don't shut up about that?" Chat asked.

"Mh...I wonder if..." Ladybug said as she opened up her yo-yo. She aimed the white light inside of it at the three. "Miraculous Healing!" It engulfed the three Ifrits, whom howled as if in pain.

"LB, what are you doing?" Carapace asked. 

"I saw one of them falter briefly when I tried reaching out, I got a feeling that..." Ladybug said. She didn't finish the sentence, as the three Ifrits collapsed. 

They were still for a few seconds until they opened their eyes. Their manes were fiery again, but they weren't burning wildly. Instead of the empty eyes, they had eyes with visible pupils. "Oh, my..." One of the Ifrits said. "My aching head. Where are we?"

"You don't remember?" Ladybug asked.

"We really don't." the second Ifrit said. "We were about to visit some relatives in France, we just arrived and then...a blur." 

"Wait...red and black dots. You are the current Ladybug Miraculous wielder?" the female Ifrit asked. "You are all wielders?" 

"We sure are." Chat said proudly. 

The three Ifrits looked in panic as they lay down as if bowing. The first Ifrit spoke up. "Forgive us, oh mighty guardians. W have committed a felony by crossing the barrier without permission."

"I can get used to this." Roi Singe preened as if he believed he was being worshiped. 

"At ease." Ladybug said. She felt a bit surprised that these magical beings revered them so much. Fu may have mentioned something about their status as Miraculous wielders in regards to magical beings, but she didn't realize the extent until now. "None shall be punished."

"Yeah, if LB's healing made you snap out of..whatever you had a few moments ago, it means it was an external force whom had made you do that." Carapace noted.

"Did we ...hurt anyone?" the second Ifrit asked nervously.

"There were some fires and you kind of fought us. But we got everyone to safety and to be honest, we fought tougher Akumas." Rena Rouge explained. "The rest is nothing that the Miraculous ladybug can't fix." 

"Bunnyx will open up a portal that will bring you home. I advice to be on a lookout for anything weird so that will not happen again." Ladybug said.

"Thank you for your understanding and generosity, great guardian." The lead Ifrit said as they bowed to them. 

"Burrow!" Bunnyx said as she created a portal so that the Ifrits could return home. The Ifrits gave their final goodbyes and stepped through.

"I for one am glad we no longer need portal stones to send the beasts back through the barrier." Chat said. "That went rather smoothly I say." 

"Speak for yourself, look at my hair." Queen Bee pouted.

"Just wait until Ladybug uses her Cure, and you'll be back to normal. You're Queen Bee, not Drama Queen. Oh, that sounds like one of Hawkmoth's lamer Akumas." Rena Rouge noted.

"If it helps, you never looked hotter, Queenie." Pipistrello joked. Chat chuckled at the pun but the rest didn't look amused. "Nobody appreciates a good pun."

"That's what I said." Chat mused. 

"I think you're still beautiful." Viperion said, wrapping an arm around Queen Bee's waist. Queen Bee blushed and giggled.

"Were we ever that sappy?" Ladybug asked.

"You two still are." Carapace noted. "Not that me and Rena have room to speak."

"You are all sickly sweet and sappy. Only reason me and Pipistrello are not is because we don't have a relationship with anyone right now." Bunnyx noted.

"You know, that could change soon..." Rena Rouge said with a creepy grin.

"Oh, she is wearing her shipping face, you doomed us Bunnyx!" Pipistrello said, somehow half amused and half frightened.

"We got no time for that. We have to check on the others and see how much the Miraculous Ladybug has to fix." Ladybug said. "But for what it's worth, you all did well."

"Girl, you saying that is worth a lot." Pan noted. 

Ladybug smiled. The Heroes' Day gathering was not a fluke. Her new expanded team continued to do well. She couldn't help but question what exactly caused those Ifrit to go berserk. But right now, they needed to regroup with the others, fix things and speak to the media. She could investigate that bit later. 

Later that day, the it was all over the news of course. About everyone in the city always eagerly anticipated to hear about their favorite heroes in the news. Mostly with joy and pride in Paris' superhero team. Others just wanted to stay up to date. 

"Don't be bemused, it is just the news. Nadja Chamak here covering the events of the Miraculous team's newest bout of heroics. Earlier today, the young heroes helped deal with a series of fire caused by magical beings known as 'Ifrits'. The beasts were dispatched, the fires were extinguished, and people were pulled out of the burning buildings safely through their efforts."

A grumble could be heard from one particular person hearing the news. Several things were notable about this person. He was not happy to hear about the heroes on the news. He looked on to them with disdain. He was in prison. No, it was not Hawkmoth, as that guy was still bed-ridden. No, this was someone different.

Though his head was almost completely shaven, the little hair that was visible on his shaven head was a pale blonde, like his goatee. He had venomous green eyes, with a scar going over his left eye. He held the remote to the tv, almost crushing it in his hand in frustration. 

He saw images of the young heroes interacting with a few of the little kids they saved. Laika allowing a kid to scratch her behind the ears, wagging her tail in the process. Or Pegasus giving one of the kids a piggy back ride. Or Roi Singe making monkey sounds while trashing like his totem animal to make them laugh. It was so sweet...it made him nauseous. 

"We cannot claim all the credit. We want to thank the people of Paris' Fire department. While we have the skills to deal with magical calamities, it was thanks to them helping us through this with their expertise that allowed us to bring everything to a good end." Ladybug said. "We may be superheroes, but we also need our everyday heroes." 

The firemen preened a little under the praise of Ladybug, as their Chief shook her hand. It sickened him. Ladybug was genuine with her words. But to this person, her talking was like nails on a chalkboard. For him it was sickly sweet and fake. To him it felt as an insult. 'I could understand old man, keeping them around to deal with the mess you made. Couldn't have a rogue butterfly running around. But once that job is done, knowing you, I believed for sure you would have taken back the Miraculous.' he thought to himself.

'But no, you let them keep it! And not just her and her core team. All of them! Why them? It is not fair!' He let out a scream of frustration as he threw the remote at the tv, destroying it in the process. Then he kicked over the stand on which the tv lay and screamed some more.

"Latombe! Don't tell me you destroyed another one." The guard whom was patrolling outside the prisoner's cell.

"Fine, I won't tell." the prisoner, apparently called Latombe muttered. "But you clearly have eyes so it makes it kind o redundant." 

"Still cheeky as ever." the guard said.

"Why do we bother replacing this guy's tv. Isn't he supposed to be the worst of the worst? Should he even be allowed luxuries like tv?" another guard asked.

"Not really, but giving him tv was given in exchange for him not killing any more of the doctors." the first guard said.

"Two things! One: It is not polite to talk about me as if I am not here." Latombe said as he raised a finger. "Two: I didn't kill them. They killed themselves." 

"After they talked to you!" the Guard said.

"Or they were really bad at doing their job. Doctorate in psychology my ass! If they were any good they wouldn't have let it happen. I did a favor by weeding out the bad ones." Latombe said, he sounded amused rather then regretful.

"You are sick." The second guard said. 

"Maybe I'm the only sane person left? Matter of perspective." Latombe said as he lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"From m perspective, you are locked up. You are only going to see the four walls of your cell for the rest of your life. So rot in hell, you monster." the second guard added.

"Come now, George. He is not worth it." the first guard said. "The world has already forgotten about him." With that, they continued their patrol, moving away from his cell.

Still laid down on his bed, Latombe grumbled. Cold fury was in his eyes. "Forgotten... Forgotten? Me, the greatest scientific genius since Albert Einstein, forgotten? I was famous...no, infamous. I was one time spoken off as the greatest hero, and another the new boogeyman in the nightmares of Paris' people. They think that locking me away for all this time will make people forget? I have not forgotten! I will make them remember. This cell won't hold me forever. I will learn everyone to fear and respect me again..." he growled to himself softly. His anger, his fury, building up inside him.

It was not unnoticed. Deep underground, in the bowels of Paris' sewer system something cold and dark lurked. From the shadows a pair of eyes opened up and glowed. It has sensed spikes of anger, despair, or sadness. The people of Paris all felt that. But these were brief bouts, just moments of weakness, moments of vulnerability. But the spike of anger it felt was so much more. It was not a moment. It was something that had festered for a long time. It was what the being sought. An odd, chilling sound was heard, that wasn't quite a growl but was still frightening. It was rather...an odd chirp or purr. Whatever this source of extreme anger and hatred was...it needed it!

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Latombe, Part II

MIRACULOUS ALLIANCE SEASON TWO: VENOM

LATOMBE, PART II

"I'm getting you this time!" Roi Singe said as he readied himself with his staff.

"The only thing you're getting is a taste of the floor." Bunnix said as she pointed her umbrella at him. "I'm already ahead of you in terms of wins."

"Technically, you are both tied!" Chat said as he continued his spar with Carapace, the latter blocking his strikes with his shield, not giving his sparring partner a chance to get a hit in.

"Then we break this tie now!" Roi Singe as he charged in. He thrusted his staff forward as she opened up her umbrella to block the strike. It bounced off the deceptively durable thing as she folded it back up and thrusted it forward, stabbing as if it was a rapier instead of an umbrella, but Roi Singe grabbed it right under the tip. Roi Singe then lashed with his staff but she caught it in her free hand.

They were started to pull and push. Both had enhanced strength, but Roi Singe was taller and stronger, but Bunnix was agile and more nimble, and they both used these traits in their tug o'war to not give the other a moment to regain ground. "I'm going to win this round, you big lug!"

"They're at it again..." Rena Rouge said as she and Queen Bee continued their spar. Queen Bee out her trompo, Rena deflecting it with her flute each time.

"Well, I'm not getting in between them." Queen Bee scoffed as she flew up and charged at Rena Rouge.

Rena Rougeheld out her arms in front of her in defense as Queen Bee tried to deliver some aerial kicks. "You never do."

"Well, yeah! You think I am the type with the patient for that kind of thing?" Queen Bee flew back and spun her trompo at her side.

"Point taken." Rena Rouge said as she started spinning he flute in her hand before gripping it tightly.

"Pan, Kempfhahn, I know better then anyone else it is hard to focus seeing your boyfriend in formfitting uniform at time, but please focus more on the sparring!" Ladybug said as she lashed at Ryuko, whom agilely dodged, and thrusted forward with her sword, which Ladybug avoided.

Pan had Kempfhahn pinned to the ground and decided to let his eye linger on how the suit fitted his boyfriend's form. Pan pouted a bit for being called out. "You know Tigresse and Porcelet did the exact same thing last week."

"Well sorry, influenced by the Kwami of passion!" the Tiger Miraculous wielder called back. She had grabbed hold of Porcelet's rake and they were tugging at it trying to overpower one another.

"Can we please put love lives on the back burner until we are done sparring?" Taurus asked, holding his massive forearms in front of him, to block the whip-like lashes of Petit Souris' jumprope.

"Says the guy whom is currently getting whipped in every sense of the word." Tigresse snarked. This had both the mouse and ox Miraculous wielders blush and Petit Souris even dropped her weapon to the ground in embarrassment.

"Let's take a break everyone!" Ladybug said for everyone.

"But we were about to break the tie!" Roi Singe whined.

"Break that tie in a different way, we are training to be heroes. Take things seriously. Like Ryuko." Ladybug said. She found that Ryuko was staring in front of herself. "Ryuko?"

"Sorry, I was zoning out. When you made that comment of Pan and Kempfhahn, I suddenly thought of how my own boyfriend would look in a superhero bodysuit." This got everyone laughing as Ladybug facepalmed. Though she had to give in and eventually had to laugh about it as well.

At his apartment, Lysander was writing in his journal as he suddenly felt an odd feeling come over him. "Why do I get the urge to buy myself a bodysuit?"

Back at Prison, Latombe had regretted losing his temper earlier. He was now without a tv and he was bored out of his mind. He just lay in his bed looking at the ceiling. He hated the boredom because it only reminded him on how the world had forgotten about him. He hated being forgotten. Sure, the guards whom patrolled near his cell knew whom he was but only in the sense of them thinking him a chore to look after and to forget once they get back home to their families. He would get out one day, he promised himself that. Only it has been a decade or more and he was still trapped. He had made attempts and they came close, and he took down a few worthless peons down with him, but he was recaptured before he got out each time.

"Man...if only I could wish upon a star and get the hell out of here." he muttered to himself.

Two prison guards were patrolling, about to enter the corridor where Latombe's solitary confinement cell was. But they were being watched. It was moving from the shadows, letting out a low growl. "Er...George, did you hear something?"

"I'm not sure what you are talking ab-..." that was everything the guards could tell before the being snuck out of the shadows, slithered right behind them and all they could bring out were screams of fear and pain.

Latombe heard this. "Are those screams of terror? You know it's odd hearing it when I am not the one causing them." he muttered to himself. He talked about it as if he talked about the weather. He got up from his bed and looked out through the transparent wall of his cell. He saw something big and shadowy move through the corridor towards him. If Latombe was frightened or surprised, he didn't show it. "And who do we have here."

"I am the one to get you out." the voice said. It was and eerie voice. It was low and soft, not quite a whisper. Something that you didn't expect from a beast of its size and looks. That made it somehow more frightening.

"I appreciate the offer, but I kind of heard those screams of terror from those guards and if I'm correct, it is going to be messy down the hallway. What can you do to insure me I don't become part of the messy bits?" Latombe asked.

"Not much of a choice. Either take your chances or whither away, slowly withering away like a plant that they forget to water, discarded like trash." the beast said.

"You are right and I hate that. I respect it but I hate it. So work your magic." Latombe said as he sat down on his bed and watched to see what would happen. The beast just walked through the wall as if it wasn't there. A shadowy aura came off it as he walked through. " That's useful, though I expected something flashier."

"Come." the beast said. It didn't exactly order him to do so, more like ask, but letting Latombe know it wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

"Fine!" Latombe said. "As long as we get out quick before more guards show up. Well, not those guards up ahead, because they're kind of dead." Latombe pointed out.

"They will be no threat." the beast replied.

"I get that. But you clearly being not human it means they'll probably call in the Miraculous team." Latombe said, the last words spat out with disgust.

"They will be distracted." the beast replied. If it was capable of it, the Beast would have smiled.

"I think I may not dislike you." Latombe said with a grin he was actually capable off.

"Take my hand." the beast said as it reached out its clawed hand. "I can phase you out but we must be in physical contact. Latombe sighed and did as told. The beast's shadowy aura engulfed them both as they phased through the floor. A few minutes later, the guards would be discovered by their colleagues, whom would be horrified, a few losing their lunches. They would also realize the most dangerous criminal in the complex was loose. After all these years, the psycho finally got out.

With the heroes, they were all de-transformed their kwami's floating beside them as they all sat down and enjoyed a break, with drinks to rehydrate themselves, and pastries courtesy of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. "You are amazing Mari. If I hadn't Ondine and you didn't have Adrien, I'd marry you."

"I would still deny you, because you are my dumb little brother." Marinette snarked as she took a sip of her grape soda.

"You are older but I'm taller!" Kim said. "So I'm the bigger bro!"

"Not for long, if I'm not mistaken, Marinette had a growth spurt." Alix said. She handed a piece of carrot cake to Fluff. Alix herself knew she'd never be tall unlike the boys and most girls in her class. But she was okay with that, because she knew she was a big thing that just came in a small package.

"Yeah, you're almost reaching Adrien's height." Alya noted as she observed the size of the two.

"Knowing her parentage, with her father on the larger size, compared to the shorter stature of her mother, whom isn't that much taller then Marinette and the fact that she is still in a stage of puberty that implies further growth, Marinette has a great chance to become a woman of a greater height" Max noted. Kaalki raised an eyebrow. Max sighed.

"I am not going to be as big as my dad." Marinette said.

"You'd still be amazonian in height." Marc noted. He noticed Adrien blushing. "Oh, Goldilocks having a thing for tall women?"

"No, I just think Marinette would be sexy as a tall amazon woman." Adrien said.

"Bro, you think anything with Marinette is sexy. If she as much belches you think its sexy." Nino noted.

"She would be the sexiest belcher ever." Adrien said proudly.

"How did we get to the point that we are talking about me being sexy when I-URP!" Marinette let out a belch, as if on comedic timing that got everyone laughing.

"I was right, still sexy." Adrien said.

"I hate you all!" Marinette said as she blushed. "I should have never brought you guys into the fold."

"Oh, nothing to be ashamed off Mari. We just tease you a bit like classmates should. We still respect you as Ladybug and would follow you in battle any time, but harder to take you seriously because Paris' greatest hero is a cute dork." Marc said.

"I am a cutie pie. Adrien is a cute dork." Marinette said. Adrien just smiled as he wholly agreed with that sentence.

"Ugh! I can't believe spending time with you got me laughing as something gross as belching. I have been spending way too much time with all you guys." Chloé noted.

"You know, I think Marinette is now slightly taller then you." Lila said with an impish grin.

"Gah! No! I like Marinette now but she is not allowed to be taller then me, certainly because my growth spurt isn't as big as hers!" Chloé said as she pouted.

"Hey no worries, I think your boy toy still likes you even if you are a shortstack." Alya added.

"I just happen to love my woman petite, not taking crap from anyone, and having a beautiful heartsong." Luka put an arm arond Chloé, whom smiled in delight.

"Dang, I miss the time I could still tease you about Luka." Alya muttered.

"Screw you, Césaire!" Chloé said. She didn't mean it, it was just part of the teasing between friends.

The kwamis were also talking among themselves as their wielders were. "When was the last time we all were together like this? Not in the Miracle Box? But all active at the same time for longer periods of time with regular wielders, without any rotation nonsense?" Tikki asked.

"Probably not since before the Order fell. And both Nooroo and Duusu were with us as well." Wayzz noted.

"Oh, I hope they heal up soon. It is so nice we are all gathered again like this, but they have not been with worthy wielders. They deserve a caring partner more then anyone." Daizzi said.

"Once Fu has worked his magic they are as good as new. The kids still have lots of friends in their own and the other classes whom may be good wielders." Plagg said as he was relaxing, as he was eating a cheese danish.

"So, how are you enjoying your partners?" Wayzz asked.

"I got stuck with a buffoon. A lovable buffoon though so that may make it bearable. But a buffoon still." Xuppu said as he took a bite from some banana bread.

"He isn't a buffoon, he is baboon. And you like that big oaf, don't deny it." Fluff said. "But both him and my wielder could do with some maturing. But they eventually will. I know because..."

"Freakin' kwami of time, we know! But guess what, my wielder can take yours any day of the week!" Xuppu said.

"Oh want to make a bet about that?" Fluff asked.

"Cut it you two, you are supposed to rub off on them, not the other way around." Mullo said as he got in between them.

"Or just let them cut loose. They do the rest themselves." Roaar said. "Does wonders for my wielder."

"If by that she looks like she may turn nymphomaniac any second." Stompp scoffed.

"I prefer the terms 'addicted to her potential mate'. I think it is always the best way to channel one's passion. Certainly when this reclusive little flower blooms open like a tiger lily." Roaar noted.

"Ugh! Mushy stuff. Don't like it, its not for me. It's always gross and complicated. That's why I stick with cheese. It is far less gross and simple." Plagg said.

"As long as you don't breathe down our faces, cheese-breath." Barrk said as she covered her nose.

"I kind of misssssed the good-natured ribbing we gave each other. That'ssss sssomething we have in common with our wieldersssss." Sass noted.

"Oh, believe me, it is a delight." Trixx said with an impish grin.

"You always love messing with people and kwami's and..." Plagg muttered. "You make that face again. Last time I did that you put hot sauce in my cheese." Plagg looked at a second cheese Danish. "You didn't do it again."

"You think that if I did, I'd tell you?" Trixx asked.

Plagg pouted a he looked at the Danish, torn between eating it and risk playing into a prank or letting it lie there...but he'd miss out on cheese. Trixx whispered to Jinxx. "I didn't do anything, I'm playing a paranoia gambit."

"That's hilarious, you're the best, Trixx!" Jinxx noted.

"I know." Trixx grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"Cool, dinner and a show." Daizzi said as she stuffed her face.

"Something tells me I have to play peacekeeper again today." Tikki said, not able to ignore the feeling. In the end they will have a good laugh about it, but before that, she'd imagine a furious Plagg chasing a giggling Trixx again.

But not right now as an explosion went off in the distance, and a roar was heard i the distance The apps on the heroes' phones sounded all at once. "Oh dang, guess the second half of our training day is going to be more of the on-the-job sort again." Sabrina noted.

"All right, you know the drill people." Marinette said as she stood up. Everyone readied up for transformation.

"Tikki, spots on!"

"Plagg, claws out!"

"Wayzz, shell on!"

"Trixx, let's pounce!"

"Pollen, buzz On!"

"Sass, Scales slither!"

"Roaar, let's hunt!"

"Daizzi, pork out!"

"Barrk, here boy!"

"Kaalki, Full gallop!"

"Orikko, sunrise!"

"Ziggy, wake up!"

"Mullo, bare your fangs!"

"Stompp, stampede!"

"Longg, bring the storm!"

"Xuppu, showtime!"

"Fluff, clockwise!"

"Jinxx, gro crazy!"

In a flash of multiple colors, the heroes were transformed and wee on their way to deal with the threat at hand. Not knowing that it was the same distraction that the beast mentioned once he busted out Latombe.

Speaking of Latombe, he and his partner we for now know as 'the beast' reappeared somewhere, in a shadowy aura they were engulfed as they rose from the ground. Latombe had a disturbing wide gleeful grin. "My old lab. Oh how I missed this! I want to kiss the ground but it seems it hasn't been cleaned since my imprisonment. To think no one found it in all thosee years...But wait a sec, how did you find it?"

"I knew what to look for. Let's leave it at that." the beast noted. "At the moment the heroes will be fighting another one of my...enthralled."

"Did you send those Ifrit after them the other day?" Latombe asked.

"I sent every beast that came through the veil. For a long time I was sealed away, and for a while it took for me to slowly regain power. I lured beasts beyond the veil for ages. Initially I could only lure them, but I could not truly control them. Now, at this point I can instill battle rage, but I am still incomplete." the beast said.

"Is this what you need me for? You think I will be able to 'fix' you?" Latombe asked. "Glad you think I'm the best man for the job. I totally am. But now, you still haven't told me who you are?"

The beast Now fully showed itself to us. It had a furry cloak, and it was hard to tell if it was actual hair, feathers or something else. But once it spread its cloaks it seemed to be more like it was a pair of wings but no wings like you've seen on any bird or creature. It had a weird bodyshape, though humanoid, seeming androgynous. I had long thin fingers with the claws it had tore the guards apart with earlier. A second pair of arms, smaller, more armor-plated and while still with claws, had smaller and fewer fingers. It had clawed legs that make it appear like it had huge clawed bird-like legs. It appeared to have permanent clenched teeth, but only because the twisted armor-plated face of it didn't have lips, permanently showing its sharp fangs off. From his head sported some sort of hair that split further into tentacle-like protrusions, but i wasn't even sure if it was hair of something else. "I am Mahamayuri!"

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, sorry this chapter took this long. Writer's block.
> 
> And dang, people were really over the moon when I started season two and got so many likes and good comments. I knew people liked the work but that they were so happy to see it continue...warms my heart you know?
> 
> So now introducing the second villain this season. Mahamayuri was something I recycled if you will. Before the story went off rails I wanted Nathalie to be akumatized as Mayuri, into Mahamayuri, and this was before I decided to redeem her. But Mahamayuri is recycled as a seperate character, with a different origin. But that is something that is delved into in future chapters.
> 
> Furthermore, I need to thank Reece, my betareader and buddy for giving me the idea of an external force breaking Latombe out. I was a bit stumped on how to let him escape, and a combination of his idea plus this little character I wanted to bring back, it worked out.


	3. Latombe Part III

MIRACULOUS ALLIANCE SEASON TWO: VENOM

LATOMBE, PART III

Latombe was back in his secret lab for the first times in years, thanks to his new partner in crime. "I am so happy to be home. Like a kid in a candy shop...and a kitchen knife in hand." the mad scientist said as he all but danced around in the lab. "Home sweet home."

He looked on top of a desk, blowing off some dust. Some papers, whom have turned yellow-is lay there. "Oh I remeber these equations. Oh, missing a few pages...some rats must have stolen it or something." He stopped in front of a coffee maker. "Ah, I missed having good coffee. In jail, the coffee tasted of dishwater."

He walked by a few notes on a blackboard, which hasn't been wiped clean since he last. "Oh I remember that experiment. Me and my friends had a good time on that. On second thought the friendship was really one-sided as I was the scientist, and they were the Guinea Pigs. Not that I heard them complain. I did hear them beg for mercy though. I wish they were still around. Maybe what is left of them is, I don't know if I have forgotten to dispose of the remains before I was arrested."

He ran back to his desk, and he saw a picture in a frame standing there. "I never could bring myself to get rid of this, despite the hatred I feel upon seeing it. Part of me is just too nostalgic or sappy. Or maybe I thought of it as a motivator?"

He stopped in front of a weird drone-like device. "Hello, my wonderful invention, did you miss Daddy?" he said as he stroked his invention. "Who is my little super-weapon experiment, you are!"

Mahamayuri felt annoyed. "Are you done fooling around? There is work to do." he growled.

"Partypooper." Latombe pouted. "But if you want me to help you, I need to get this place up and running again." he scuffled to the other side of the lab. He opened a panel in the wall, and there seems to be an empty container connected to a device. "Oh darn. Power source is on empty." Latombe said. It had powered his very own electrical network that doesn't appear on any grid, and hence his lab went unnoticed for so long.

"Not a problem." Mahamayuri touched it and it seem to fill of its own with a purple and blue half smoky, half liquid substance and immediately the power went on, lights flickering on and monitors becoming active again. Machines hummed to life, though some like the coffee maker short circuited as they have been inactive for a while.

"Whoa, that's a cool trick. You do birthday parties too?" Latombe noted.

"I expect a bit more respect, I went through all this trouble to get you out and this place working." Mahamayuri said. "I have no need for your cheek."

"Hey, I appreciate everything you did for me. It just seems you suffer from a lack of humor. Learn to enjoy life a little." Latombe threw up his hands. He looked at one of the monitors. It showed the footage of the Miraculous heroes fighting a creature in the streets of Paris. "Oh, there is your distraction."

"It did its job. We got out, and they won't find any trail of us anymore by the time they neutralize this threat." Mahamayuri said.

"True. Though...we can spice things up a bit." Latombe said with a grin as he took the drone device and connected it to a charging station in his lab. Thanks to Mahamyuri's contribution that got the lab running, it was ready to go in a few moments.

"What are you planning on doing, human?" Mahamayuri asked.

"One, I have a name. It's Doctor Gustav Latombe. Call me Doctor, Doc, Gustav, never Gus! Latombe or Dr. Latombe..." he said as he fiddled a bit with the device, before rummaging through drawers in the desk as he then searched for something. "And for your info, whatever you are supposed to be, I am conducting an experiment."

"Experiment?" Mahamayuri raised and eyebrow.

"I am a mad scientist, what did you expect me to do? Open a zoo?" Latombe said. "But believe me, you'll love what I'm going to do with this."

"I don't love anything. I am sorrow, anger, hatred incarnate, I am..." Mahamyuri noted.

"...boring me!" Latombe said. "Seriously, how can you be dramatic and dull at the same time. Just believe me when I tell you this will work out for the best." He pulled out something that resembled an old fashioned game controller. "Found it!" He pushed a few buttons and the drone hovered off the table. "Now fly on, my little invention and...whoa, backing off! I nearly went full Hawkmoth there. Remind me to never do that again."

Mahamayuri just sighed as he saw the drone fly away. "This better be good."

Somewhere else in Paris, Roi Singe was sent flying through the window, landing in the middle of a little cafe. He groaned as he got up. "For the owner of a white BMW, you left your lights on. That and a giant slug dragon thing stepped on it. No worries, the car and the windows will be fixed by the Miraculous Ladybug once we're done." Roi Singe then jumped back out into the fray.

The sound of someone's forehead hitting the table could be heard. "What is wrong Kiva?" Reece asked his friend.

"I am getting used to the madness..." the Belgian boy groaned.

"Everyone in Paris is used to it by now." Scott, whom was also present, replied.

"We should not be getting used to this!" Kiva moaned.

"It's either that or going nuts." Reece argues. Kiva could be heard sighing.

"Did you make your decision?" a waitress asked.

"A Lipton Ice Tea Green and whatever dessert you have that is rich in chocolate..." Kiva moaned. His face hasn't left the table since it made contact with it.

"Sorry guys, thrown through a window. What did I miss?" Roi Singe said as he regrouped.

"The slug dragon thing is still there." Bunnix muttered.

"Actually, t's called a Carcolh." Kempfhahn noted.

"I call it slug dragon because that is what it looks like." Roi Singe insisted.

'Slug dragon' is actually quite an appropriate term to describe the look of the creature. The Carcolh was scaly, but also at the same time looked smooth and slimy. It was quadruped but its belly an tail brought to mind a slug's body. Its face was lizard like but the tendrils and antenna invoke a slug theme. Even worse it spat out...something that was both fire-like and slime-like, almost plasma but not quite. Whatever it was, it dissolved a car when it hit so it was not good.

"Easy, boy. We don't want to hurt you..." Ladybug said as she tried to soothe the creature. It responded by roaring and spitting out more of that slimy fire. "That was rude...and gross."

"Venom!" Queen Bee shouted as she planted her stinger weapon in the slimy skin of its back...only to be stuck. "What the...Nh!" Queen Bee tried to pull the stinger loose, but it was it has been stuck in a bucket of glue. She pulled with all her might and pulled her weapon loose. "Yes!" she then realized now she was stuck with her feet into the slime. "No!" She spread her wings and pulled herself out with great difficulty.

"Ok, we can't hit as it is now, we may get our weapons and our limbs stuck if we try to hit it!" Ladybug noted.

"Sure, but how do we prevent it from hitting us?" Chat said as he deflected some slimy flame shots with his baton.

"We need to attack from a distance, so anyone whom has a projectile that is not attached to a string, you have free reign!" Ladybug noted.

"All right, can anyone fly me up there so I can play my melody. I need him to hear me for the song to work." Viperion asked.

"Allow me!" Queen Bee said as she lifted Viperion off the ground and took to the skies.

"Chat is right, strong women whom can carry you over her shoulder are hot." Viperion noted.

"We're nearing its big ugly head, so start the music!" Queen bee said. Viperion immediately started tugging at the strings of his lyre, playing a tune that may hopefully soothe the beast. It blinked a few times and seemed to move slower, but it wasn't doing much. "Why doesn't it work."

"You think because this thing is so freakin' big it may take longer for my music to sink in?" Viperion asked. Queen Bee had to move out of the way of the disgusting slimy flames the Carcolh spat at them.

"I don't know but the thing won't stay put long enough for you to finish that lullaby!" Queen Bee said.

Pan had quickly scaled upon a building (him being the best climber aside Roi Singe in the group. "Let's hit him with our power at once!" Pan suggested. Viperion gave a thumbs up as he continued playing as Pan did the same for his pan-flute, spraying sand in the creature's eyes.

It was wobbling and looking drowsy as he was about to collapse. "I think it is working..." Viperion noted.

Mahamayuri and Latombe were looking at the feed. "My drone isn't there yet, they'll win at this rate. Can you not rile it up so it stays awake a bit longer?" Latombe noted.

"I could. But I wonder if it will be worth it?" Mahamayuri said.

"Don't tell me you are the least bit curious what I have in store?" Latombe asked.

Mahamayuri was silent for almost a minute. "...Fine!" it said as its eyes glowed fo a bit.

The Carcolh's eyes went incredibly wide and jolted up as it roared in anger and shot out slimy fireballs in all directions. Queen Bee, Viperion and Pan were forced to take a step back as the creature lay more devastation on the city. "What the heck just happened?" Pan asked.

"He is reminded that he still has a slug dragon sweet sixteen birthday party to go to...how am I supposed to know?" Queen Bee said, sounding snippy.

"What's your problem?" Pan asked.

"That thing got his slime all over my cute little boots and weapon!" Queen Bee replied, putting Viperion down.

"Oh, that makes sense." Pan said dryly.

"Ok, it seems that tall, dark and ugly is throwing a tantrum? Anyone got some ideas?" Bunnix asked.

"Well, now is as good a time as any. Lucky Charm!" Ladybug said as she threw up her yo-yo. And She found herself to be covered by something big, thin and light but it also made sure she saw nothing but red, and black.

"Whoa, that's a really big flag." Chat noted.

"No kidding..." Ladybug said sarcastically as she pulled the really big flag off her and looked at it. "Now what to do with..." she looked at the flag, which was highlighted in red with black dots. Then towards Ryuko, whom was also highlighted in the same coloring. Then finally the monster.

"Whoa, didn't do one of those vision things in a while, did you?" Pipistrello joked.

"Idea!" Ladybug said, completely ignored her crazy bat-themed friend. "Ryuko, go Water Dragon and drench it. Pipistrello, you are good at drawing attention. Everyone else, grab a side of this huge flag, and we do the following..."

Soon the plan was into motion as Pipistrello flew towards the creature and shouted. "Hey you are called a Carcolh, right? But you strike me more of a Goodra. Though my favorite Pokémon is..." she dodged a stream of slimy flames. The creature may not have understood what she said but it was mad and ready to hit anything that fluttered around. "Carcolh used Draco Meteor! Carcolh's attack missed!"

"Water Dragon!" Ryuko was now a wave of water and splashed on top of the creature, whom didn't like being wet. It tried to spit out slimy flames...but no flames came out. It was too wet to create flames.

Queen bee, Kempfhahn, Ladybug and a Wind form and Ryuko then lifted their side of the flag into the sky and over the creature. The creature trashed around, but they flew in such a way the flag would become wrapped around it. The other Miraculous wielders on the ground grabbed a part of the flag. "Everyone in sync now, left, right, left right!" Chat said as the two groups alternated pulling the flag.

The Carcolh became grumpy as it was covered by the cloth and it felt it rubbing around its body. It trashed some more and eventually manage to tear the flag. However, its skin wasn't smooth and shiny anymore. "Hit him with everything you got now!" Ladybug said.

"Multitude!" Petit Souris said as she multiplied and the multiple copies jumped up. Roi Singe and Chat Noir held their staffs in front of them, spinning them rapidly so that the multiple Mouse wielders bounced off them and were shot like bullets at the creature, whom stumbled back. Even better, the Petit Souris copies didn't get stuck.

Kempfhahn, Queen Bee and Ladybug had lifted Pan, Rena Rouge and Carapace respectively into the air and threw them at the Carcolh. "Who-hoo!" Rena said as she shot towards the slug-like dragon.

"Bombs away!" Carapace thrusted forward with his shield in front of him.

"I can't believe I'm being yeeted" Pan said.

Pan's and Rena's feet, as well as Carapace's shield hit him in the face, and he was slowly losing his balance. Ladybug and Queen Bee went down to the ground, shooting out their weapons, while a now single again Petit Souris shot out her jump rope, wrapping around the beast's legs. Taurus scooped them up and with his great strength pulled, and the Carcolh was tripped up and fall down onto the ground, out cold.

"And another victory goes to the Miraculous team!" Chat shouted. The others joined in cheerfully.

"Ok Bunnyx, all we need you to do now is to create a portal big enough to..." Ladybug started as she was talking to her teammate.

However, in their euphoria they hadn't noticed Latombe's drone has reached its target. It attached to the Carcolh's back. A jolt of electricity went through the creature as it roared in pain and stood up again. The electric pulse from the thing blasted outwards like a shockwave. All of a sudden, technology and metal from all over the area floated towards the creature, sparking with energy. The scrap gathered together as it sparked and merged. It formed a giant snail-like shell on its back, with several cannons and weapon attached, while at the same time creating a metallic mask around the face of the Carcolh, which wasn't that much prettier then its real face. It rose up and roared louder then before.

"...YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" the entire Miraculous team said at the same time.

"Who-hoo! How do you like that? Isn't it awesome?" Latombe said from his lair. Mahamayura remained silent and looked on with the same impassive look on his face. Latombe pouted. "You are no fun. Maybe if I show you what this puppy can do!" He started dialing on the buttons of his weird control unit, like a gamer pro attempting a speedrun.

On top of the snail shell-like armor, the cannons aimed and fired, the heroes scattering to avoid the gunfire. "We won! We did win. Why isn't it over yet?" Roi Singe said as he jumped over a cannon blast.

"Ok, everyone whom used their power, fall back and recharge. Anyone else, draw its fire away from any citizens, keep its attention divided." Ladybug said. "After this is over, we need to figure out whom is behind I doubt the snail dragon is behind it himself."

Everyone did as they were told, Ladybug ducking in an alleyway with Viperion. Viperion detransformed and pulled out a boiled egg for Sass. "Eat up, little buddy." he said as Sass tookthe egg and gobbled it up.

"Now it is my turn. Tikki, spots..." Ladybug said.

"Wait!" Luka said. "Your earrings. You used your Lucky Charm, right?"

"Er...sure? Pretty hard to miss I produced a giant flag." Ladybug said, raising an eyebrow.

"Then they should beep and the spots should fade. But all spots are still on there." Luka noted.

Ladybug checked into the mirror in her yo-yo. "Hm...you're right. But how..."

"I'm done!" Sass said, having chewed through and swallowed the egg.

"All right, Sass, Scales Slither!" Luka turned back into Viperion in a flash. "You gonna recharge or not?"

"Let's get back to work and find out later what this means, we got a cyborg snail dragon thing to fight." Ladybug said as they jumped out of the alleyway and into the fight again.

Her team did as they were told, they were dividing the beast's attention. even with its firepower, it couldn't hit everyone at once. But that didn't mean that it wasn't capable of striking back. Queen Bee had to fly in and pluck Laika out of the air after she was sent flying by the creature's tail. "Thanks for the save." Laika said.

"Any time, bestie!" Queen Bee put her friend down. "This is getting utterly ridiculous."

"All right, back on track. Queenie, you are up. Everyone draw its fire so Chat and Queenie can get close. A well aimed Venom should do it. A cataclysm on the shell and a venom on its bare skin should do it this time!" Ladybug noted.

"I'm on it, Milady!" Chat noted. He then turned to Queen Bee. "I'm with you, sis."

As the two readied themselves, the rest did their best to draw attention. "Hey you! What are you supposed to be, Mollusca Gastropoda or Reptilidae Draco? Pick one and stick with it!" Pegasus taunted.

"That was the nerdiest insult I ever heard!" Laika said as she threw her ball at the creature. It hit the side of its head, drawing its attention away. "It is a bit adorable though."

"Multitude!" With that, Petit Souris was back a one-woman army. "Getting squeaky with it! Nanananana, nananananana!" she said as the multiplied heroine started dancing to draw attention. The creature growled in rage as it fired a barrage of missiles, the smaller Petit Souris quickly skittering away to avoid them. Their short size came in handy as it made them harder to hit.

"I got you!" Pegasus said as he grabbed Chat and Queenie around their waist and rushed through a barrage, using his greater speed to dodge until they were close enough. "Thanks for traveling with the Pegasus Taxi service."

"He's getting the hang of combat quips. I'm so proud of the newbies." Chat said as Queen Bee rolled her eyes. "Anyhow, I'm up close and personal. Cataclysm!" His hand was engulfed in destructive energy. He touched the snail shell and it rusted instantly and collapsed.

"Venom!" Queen Bee then stabbed the creature in its eye, which was not covered by its metal mask. "That's for sliming me, you big oaf!"

The creature seemed defeated. It was immobile. The battle shell was gone. However, the drone was still attached to its back. And now Chat saw it. "Whoa, what is this thing?" Chat said as he closed in on it. However, the thing sparked back to life, and zapped Chat and Queen bee, knocking them back and leaving them smoking; "Chat, Queenie!" Ladybug said as she rushed at their side.

"Angelbee!" Viperion said as he and Laika rushed at Chloé's side.

"I'm ok." Chat groaned. "Luckily that was not Stormy Weather's amount of lightning voltage."

The electric current ran trough the creature again, the shock stimulating its muscles and burning out the venom. The creature moved again and more electronics were drawn to it, rebuilding its battle-shell.

"What did I tell you! The real show has just begun!" Latombe commented as he proudly showed Mahamayuri what he could do.

Mahamayuri blinked for a bit as he muttered one word: "Cute."

"That's the closest thing I'll get to a compliment, right? Whatever, I am going to blast some kids. Any other person may start wondering how they had gotten to uttering that phrase, but I'm having too much fun controlling a giant slug dragon with cybernetics to care!" latombe said as he gleefully dialed away on his controller. "I am going for the high score."

"Whatever does it take to defeat this thing?" Carapace said.

"I don't know, but I already blow my Cataclysm and..." Chat looked at his ring. "Mh...it isn't beeping. it is also not counting down."

"What? So the Miraculous is busted?" Rena Roue asked.

"If a miraculous was broken, especially the Black cat one with the power of destruction, we'd all be dead by now." Chat explained.

"The same with my earrings. They haven't started the countdown yet either." Ladybug noted.

"Queen Bee's is counting down, but only one stripe is faded out. It is like it is slowed down." Rena said as she looked at Queen Bee's comb.

Queen Bee used the mirror in her weapon as well. "Huh...You're right."

"I wonder if..." Ladybug pondered. "Here goes nothing. Lucky Charm!"

"Didn't you already use..." Carapace noted. But the yo-yo glowed before something fell from the sky and landed in Ladybug's hands. "But...you...how?" Carapace asked.

"I don't know..." Ladybug noted that now her Miraculous actually started beeping. "But we move fast now." She looked at the red and black dotted object in her hand. It was long and pointy, a miniature lightning-rod. She and smiled as she got an idea. "Chat, I think you can get a second use of your power, like me. Tigresse, Ryuko, Rena, you are up next." Ladybug said as she started to explain her plan.

From his side, Latombe observed as he had the Carcolh under his control blast away at Pegasus. "Oh, don't think I'll fall for your speedy trick again. No way i'm going to let you get closer!" Latombe said as he concentrated fire at the speedster, calculating his trajectory. It was then that his screen turned white. "What the..."

"Mist is set up!" Rena said as she removed her flute from her lips.

"Tigresse, you're up!" Ladybug said.

Tigresse grinned. "JUNGLE FURY!" she shouted before letting out her Sonic roar, the soundwaves hitting the huge beast and ripping the shell and mask to shreds. Once it was blasted off, she signed her friend. "Your turn, snapdragon!"

"Lightning Dragon!" Ryuko raised her sword, becoming engulfed in electricity and stabbing it into the drone on the creature's back. It sparked more violently then ever.

Latombe's controller fried itself and he dropped it on shock. "Clever little buggers!" he noted once his screens became static.

"Cataclysm!" Chat then touched the drone, destroying it. The creature was released from its control, and promptly dropped unconscious again. The strain of today's events having caught up to it.

"And stay down!" Queen Bee said as she signed and dropped herself on the ground in a sitting position. "If I ever see that thing again, I'm serving it up with garlic and butter."

"I am just going to send it back through the barrier. I am actually hungry enough to go with Queenie's giant escargot plan so I better do it before I get tempted." Bunnix said. This got a chuckle out of the crew.

From inside his lab, Latombe seemed to mope for a bit. But he quickly recovered, throwing up his hands and muttered. "Well, that happened."

"What is the point? You just wasted time." Mahamayuri noted.

"Oh poor thing. So lacking in foresight and imagination." Latombe said as he patted the creature on its shoulder. "It was just the first in a series of tests."

"What did it show you? That your toy failed?" Mahamayuri asked.

"It wasn't about winning or losing. It was about observing, learning...I saw the news but now I've seen for myself a glimpse what these kids can do. And I have many more tests prepared for these kids. It's going to be a blast." Latombe said.

"What do you plan with these Wielders?" Mahamyuri said.

"We have been given an opportunity. I spent my life studying the Miraculous, and because of your nature you'd benefit from some additional knowledge of the current wielders as well. The data I'll obtain will solve both our problems." Latombe said.

"So you know." Mahamayuri noted.

"The energy you gave off to restore my lab, the fact you can manipulate emotions and it can even affect magical beings...of course I noticed you have a connection. I haven't filled in all the gaps though. Would you mind?" Latombe noted.

"No. I don't trust you enough with my secrets.." Mahamayuri noted.

"That's a fair point. Oh well, I'll work out the rest for myself. I am a scientist after all. I seek knowledge. My mind may have dulled a bit from prison but I'll work on sharpening it again. So that I can rise up again, and the world will know me...and fear me." Latombe said as he turned back to his monitors. There was a news coverage of the heroes victory again. "And I'll take away any hope that these brats have instilled in the people of Paris."

He grabbed the picture of his desk again. He looked at it, seeing the gathering of a series of youths with a peculiar choice in outfit. Even stranger, in the middle of the picture stood the familiar faces of a slightly younger but still elderly and recognizable Chinese man. "But first I need to deliver a message to my old master. It would not be fair to old Fu if I didn't let him know I am back in the neighborhood!

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update, and it didn't take me another three weeks to do so this time. 
> 
> Mostly I wanted to show off a few things with this chapter. One, that I have a library of mythological beings to use in my future chapters. The Carcohl is not my creation but a real french creature of folklore.
> 
> Second, establish more moments with Latombe and Mahamayuri. I hope to make them interesting villains to pick up where hawkmoth left off.
> 
> EDIT
> 
> Changed Latombe's first name from Gregoire to Gustav to not have his name be close to my other character's first name Greg Cipica. 
> 
> third, to show that the heroes got stronger and better. It is how Marinette and Chat got to use their powers twice after all. 
> 
> And finally, there were a few jokes I always wanted to use and this chapter seemed ideal for several of them. 
> 
> One more part and the first episode of the new season is done.
> 
> Anyhow, hope you guys enjoy!


	4. Latombe Part IV

MIRACULOUS ALLIANCE SEASON TWO: VENOM

LATOMBE, PART IV

Master Fu was in his shop enjoying a cup of tea. He was about to close up for the day. It was then that his doorbell rang. "I'm coming...ugh!" He tried to sit up, but his joints started to ache. He signed as he grabbed a cane to help him remain upright. He has as of late, been really feeling his age. It has been slowly happening ever since he renounced his Miraculous. But he knew it would happen.

"Are you ok, young master?" Nooroo asked. He and Duusu were doing better, but they were still far from ready for a new wielder.

"Nooroo, I may not be millennia old but I am not young." Fu said. He somehow still managed to smile. "And don't call me Master, please. I have not been leading the Miraculous team. I merely tutored them." he said as he shuffled towards the door.

"Y-y-you could always obtain another Miraculous? Just to feel a bit healthier?" Duusu suggested. "Not mine obviously. Because you'd be dead." Duusu added, after going in a dry sarcastic mode.

"I can't do that." Fu noted. There were many reasons, but he would have to delve into them later. First he needed to let his guests in. Opening the door, he found the core five of the Miraculous team. "Greetings young ones."

"Hello Master Fu. We came to ask for a few things. Also, I brought a few cinnamon rolls and grape jelly donuts for Nooroo and Duusu." Marinette said, holding a box in hand.

"How are you two doing? Adrien asked the kwamis.

"Much better. Thank you, young master." Nooroo said, smiling softly and bowing.

"Dude, what's with the cane, are you all right?" Nino asked as he looked at what Master Fu was holding.

"It is fine. It's just my old age. Even with a Miraculous you don't escape the clutches of time." Fu said as he shuffled back towards his table. "I will be fine. Just may take a bit longer to go back and forth."

"That's bullshit and you know it old man." Duusu said in an annoyed tone. He then went wide-eyed when he realized what he said. "Oh, pardon my French."

"You are almost two centuries old, you gave up your Miraculous, we have figured it out." Alya noted.

"Even me. I'm blonde, but not a dumb blonde." Chloé said. "And sorry for being direct, but how long?"

"Long enough to teach you the rest of what you need to know as Guardians, and long enough to see Adrien's mother and Ms. Sancoeur healed if I have anything to say about it." Fu said. He sat down at his table again and gestured the others to do the same. "I will make sure that everything will be taken care off in the case it turns out for the worst."

"Still a major bummer dude. If I knew this would happen I wouldn't have accepted Wayzz. I mean, I still like you Wayzz but..." Nino said, moving from staring to Fu to Wayzz and back.

"I'm not offended Nino. I too had hoped that I would have spent a little longer with Fu." Wayzz said sadly.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Marinette asked.

"Nothing that would impede on much more important matters. It is not something you should worry about. I am old. I had a long life, and it has been a fulfilling one, now that I have seen you grow in what you have become now. I never thought that I'd see the day that all the Miraculous are now in good hands, and work together as a magnificent team. Not since my own time as a student in the Order have I seen that." Fu said as he took a sip of his tea. "But now it is not the time for sadness, I believe you had questions that did not relate to my old age catching up."

"Yes..." Marinette was sad, but she still had other questions. "Me and Chat were able to remain transformed after we used our power. The countdown only started after using it for a second time."

"We also notice that the rest of us, the countdown on our power takes longer." Alya added.

"That is good news." Fu said with a soft smile. "It shows that your powers are growing fast. You are growing stronger."

"We suspected something like that. But there are some questions. I know my d-Gabriel was able to use more then one Akuma per day but even he could only do so one at the time. But with us it seems a bit different." Adrien added.

"That's because, like intended, you bonded young and grew into the power. Hawkmoth could train his skills but he didn't have the same compatibility or time to grow into his power like you did. It also helps you have good compatibility with your Miraculous. You already have exceeded him by the time of Heroes' day and you'll still continue to grow stronger."

"You think my healing powers should be strong enough soon, so I can help Emilie and Nathalie?" Marinette asked.

"No doubt you are nearly there. But not entirely. But things are progressing better then expected and we can speed up some aspects of training. Now, you still use the relic I gave you to test your healing prowess?"

"I still do. Every day, granted we haven't fought a magical creature at the time." Marinette said.

"You haven't forgotten to take breaks, have you? Don't want you to run ragged like last time." Adrien said.

"Yeah, that coffee with six sugar cubes and energy drink you always took also were far from healthy?" Alya said. "Anyone else would have a heart attack."

"Remember when Kiva accidentally took a sip? He had mistaken it for his hot coco. The guy whom can't play soccer without burning the ball suddenly wanted to run a marathon!" Chloé added.

"I swear, I am keeping everything balanced. Between you guys and the rest of the team, Miss Bustier and my parents keeping an eye on me, it won't happen again." Marinette said as she lifted up her hands.

Fu chuckled. These kids are a delight. If only he had more people he could count on back then, he wouldn't have seen such tragedy one century and a half or more ago. "There is one more thing." Chloé reminded them. "The killer escargot got himself a deadly turbanshell?"

"Oh right. When we fought the Carcohl, something, a device of sorts, attached to it and gave it some sort of armor." Marinette noted. "It was not a magical device, but it seemed to interact with that magical creature on an impressive level, even if it tried to destroy us."

Fu's eyes widened. "There are very few whom have used tools of science to harness the power of a magical being. Aside the one whom created the Miraculous and bound the kwami to them..." Fu looked a bit more panicked. "But no, it can't be..."

Plagg and Tikki looked worried too. "You thinking what I'm thinking, Sugarcube?" Plagg asked, haven't sounded this serious since heroes' day.

"I am thinking what you are thinking. But I hope to be wrong." Tikki said softly and sadly.

"I think we are all missing something." Adrien noted. "Is there something we should know?"

"It is something I suspect, and I am also hoping that suspicion is wrong." Fu said, now sounding as old and tired as he looked.

"Is there a way to confirm that suspicion?" Alya asked softly. It was then that several beeps went off. Everyone pulled out their phones. They received a notifications on one of their apps. "What the..."

It was at this point that everyone having a phone, screen or device that is capable of streaming received the same notification. Not everyone wanted to open it right away. But said signal...it played itself whether people wanted it or not. It was a message that wanted to be heard.

The Dupain-Cheng parents had a long day in the bakery again but it was a profitable one. After a long day they could just drop down in the coach in the living room and relax a bit. "So, Mari's not coming home yet?" Tom asked Sabine.

"She said she was going to inform about something with Master Fu before coming home. So we have a bit of time." Sabine noted.

"Well, we got some leftovers from earlier this week, this will save us some time with dinner. Let's just take it easy, enjoy a movie and make this a nice relaxing evening." Tom suggested.

"That sounds wonderful." Sabine said as she grabbed the remote. "Now, which movie do you have in...mind?" as she turned the device on, the screen flickered as the weird signal did its work. A lingering instinct the both had left from their younger days caused a cold chill to travel up their spine.

Max had returned home to catch up on a personal project as his computer screens started to flash. "Markov, I have a bad feeling about this signal. Once the message plays, don't forget to trace and isolate the signal right away, as long as you can protect yourself from any virus or malware that comes with it."

"No problem, Max. With my recent upgrade that should be possible to achieve." Markov noted.

"Mom! The tv is acting weird!" Little Chris Lahiffe said. He was playing one of his favorite video games when the odd signal started playing on their smart tv.

"Oh dear, I hope I didn't have to call in a repairman." Nina Lahiffe said. She would be in for the shock of her life once she would hear what is going on.

In the apartment where the Sangré's lives, Sebastien, the uncle of Lysander, was making dinner. He was in a decent mood as he stirred the soup he was making and sang softly to himself. "I said, ooh, I'm blinded by the lights...No, I can't sleep until I feel your touch I said, ooh, I'm drowning in the night...Oh, when I'm like this, you're the one I trust..." His phone then got an odd signal. He frowned as he picked it up. "What the blazes?"

As the signal has found its way, all the screens in the city started playing its message. It showed the smug grinning face of Latombe. "Greetings, people of Paris, France! I have returned. Some of you may not remember me. After all some people tried hard to forget me or make you forget me. I am Gustav Latombe. I am the person whom will elevate humankind to the next level.

Years ago I started my noble crusade, but people feared my genius and locked me away, to rot and to be forgotten. I will not stand for that. Yes, I crossed some lines in name of my research. But you know the saying, cannot make a good omelette without breaking some eggs. And I love me a good omelette. With some mushrooms, some chives...pardon me, in jail they didn't exactly provide me with good food.

Now where was I? Oh yes. So I am back to resume my research. I am devoting my research to lead humankind into a new golden age. Some of you will die. But know that some culling of the unsavory elements in this world will allow the rest to thrive. But words are cheap, I know. So I will prove myself.

The Miraculous team, while in all honesty quite capable, are mere children. Young, naive arrogant and idealistic. Guided around by an even more arrogant and short-sighted old man. The world as they envision it cannot come to be. But they refuse to accept that and trap others in their delusion. I will have to shatter it before anyone can see it.

So let's put it to the test, Miraculous team! A fight of your ideals vs mine. Let's see whom holds out in the end. Let's see whom is worthy of being the next Guardian of humankind. My little drone, the one that turned the Carcohl twice as deadly was just one of my old inventions. A warm-up. Next time we meet, I will not make it as easy.

I am not Hawkmoth. I am not interested in a small piece of the world that I want to keep intact to feed my control issues. I do not seek a few magic baubles to cheat my way to victory by wishing for it. I will not hide behind a mask, I will show the world what the real me is capable off.

And if you can hear me old man, and I now you can...we should catch up sometimes. After all, everything for my favorite teacher. Remember my name, Paris! Gustav Latombe, over and out!"

With that the signal and the message ended. All over the city there was a wave of confusion, fear and anxiety. Some thought it may be a sick joke. Others didn't know what to make of it. Others were genuinely afraid.

The Dupain-Cheng family were livid though. They knew whom this man was...Sabine was crushing the remote into her hand into pieces. Tom dug his massive hand into the wooden coffee table in frustration, grabbing it so hard a piece broke up and scattered splinters all over the carpet. "It's him...that filthy traitor." Sabine growled in a soft tone.

"I should have snapped his neck years ago." Tom said. "Then he wouldn't have...And now Marinette has to go up against him..."

"She is with Fu now, is she? I hope the old man doesn't hide this fact form her or I'll have something to say to him." Sabine said. Both parents let their anger wash away from him. They hoped their daughter would be home soon and not take too long.

While Max felt a little fearful, his common sense and logical mind kicked in, allowing him to keep composure. "Markov. Did you get something?"

"I did. But the signal, it was equipped with a randomizing algorithm. Even if you decipher it..." Markov noted.

"It will have changed by the next time he sends out a signal. Well, he is not stupid. But keep the data anyway. Next time we get a signal, collect that data too. Maybe with enough different signal, we can figure out the randomizing algorithm. Our friends counts on us."

"Understood Max." Markov said. He knew whom his creator and his friends were. No glamour could protect from his digital mind. But his logic algorithm reminded him the importance of Max's work and secret identities. And he would help them any way he could.

After the message was done, Nina Lahiffe dropped everything she had in her hands. Chris was young and didn't know exactly what the funny man on the tv was talking about. The only thing he got was that he was a bad guy. But bad guys got their butts kicked by the heroes. But his mother couldn't keep herself standing straight up and dropped herself on the footrest to sit down. "Mommy? What is going on?"

Nina was pale. She was nauseous. That man...she remembered that man. And what that man had taken from her. "No...not him...NOT HIM!"

Chris looked a bit said. "Mommy, you're scaring me."

"Got to call Nino...He needs to come home..." she panted heavily. She was still in shock and couldn't bring herself to stand up. She took a few deep breaths, she needed to stabilize before she could call her oldest son.

At the household of the Sangrés, Lysander was distracted by his homework from the message from earlier. Whom was this weird man, and why was he familiar? That train of thought also got interrupted when he shortly after heard a scream in the kitchen. Recognizing it as his uncle's voice, he wasted no time rushing into the kitchen. His uncle lay on the ground, the pot of soup has been knocked to the floor, and the fact some of the hot substance was splashed over Sebastien's arms explained why he had shouted.

"Uncle, what happened?" Lysander asked, sounding worried.

"T-t-t-the soup." Sebastien said. He could barely speak. Because he recognized the man in the message and it was awful to see him again. The man whom had brought so much pain...He couldn't tell his nephew about it. Not now...

"I'm going to call a doctor. Those burns look nasty. Hold on, Uncle Bast." Lysander said as he took his phone and dialed the number. Whatever that message with the madman was about, it could wait until his uncle got his burns.

The heroes currently at Fu's had a lot of thoughts going through their heads. But one thing they knew for sure now. "I suppose this is the confirmation of your suspicion?" Marinette asked. Fu didn't say anything but hung his head down. That said more then any answer he could have given.

They could tell right from the start this guy was insane and dangerous. The way he talked, how little human lives meant to him, and how he bragged about it and his invention. And from what they could figure out he knew Master Fu. "Who is that guy?" Adrien asked. He knew the man's name due to the message but he doesn't know anything else about him.

Fu wouldn't keep a secret this time. After all they heard the message and Latombe's words made sure they wouldn't forget about this. Also, he didn't want to work with that level of secrecy anymore. He sighed as he prepped himself. "Gustav Latombe was a former Miraculous wielder. When he was around your age, I chose him." He paused. They didn't scream in outrage, but their questioning look urged him to go on.

"He came from a wealthy family. But with that status came expectations, and limitations. Living a life in a gilded cage." Fu said. Adrien clenched his fists and visibly flinched. No one liked to be compared to a madman like Latombe even if Fu didn't intend to. "With Felix, the last Chat Noir, I found a diamond in the rough. So I assumed that with Latombe it would be the same. Give him a chance to do good and give him some freedom in the process, that it would do wonders for him."

"Judging form his psycho speech it was not a wonder, but an utter disaster." Chloé quipped.

"Chloé!" Pollen said.

"Sorry, but you know that I don't do 'subtle'." Chloé huffed.

"No, she is right." Fu stated. "Felix was a good pick but I shouldn't have assumed the same for Latombe automatically just because he was similar. You know I actually wanted Felix to succeed me as the guardian. At the time though...my methods were questionable. I thought that I acted in the interests of the safety of the Miraculous, but at the time I tended to forget about the people wielding them.

Felix' life was going well, since he became Chat he had opened up, his relationships with his family improved, he made friends, he had a girlfriend. But he didn't like that I didn't give out information and secrets to the team equally. He felt guilty that he had to leave his Ladybug in the dark. So he refused to go with Guardian training. He could keep secrets, but he didn't find keeping secrets worth keeping if it destroyed what he had gained. I didn't blame him. Not everyone was suited for a Guardian role.

I almost repeated those mistakes with you. If Rider Brave hasn't happened, if there wasn't a reveal to be forced...I may have fallen back into bad habits. And like before it would have pushed you guys apart. Some left with more secrets, team dynamics unbalanced, some of you not even full time heroes. It would be a mess." Fu said.

"The hero job does weigh at times. If my friends weren't in the know, if I had no one to fall back on..." Marinette asked. "Would I have been as good a hero as I was now? Would we have been strong enough to handle Heroes Day? Would...would the likes of Chloé and Lila have had the chance to be better?"

"Luckily we never have to find that out." Alya said.

"Please continue, Master Fu." Trixx said.

"Where was I? Oh yes. Now, since Felix had refused, I thought that Latombe would be a great successor. He was skilled, intelligent, crafty...I had put off finding a successor for too long because I made it about my own redemption for a mistake I made long ago. But to fix that mistake I made a few others to do so. I...I was tired of living, carrying on and when my time would run out, I became impatient and rushed things. I put a lot of pressure on the young man. I was desperate to make him succeed." Fu added, solemnly.

"So this madman knows a lot about the Miraculous and the Guardians' teachings. That's why he was able to invent things that work with magic and magical creatures?" Nino asked.

"Yes. And it is my fault. I taught him that. I...I don't know if the mad monster was already there or not, but my poor handling of him has created a horrible situation. He slowly became unhinged. He had his own ideas on what a Miraculous Guardian should be. He abandoned his valor and no longer cared about the innocents, he cared about getting results at any cost. I gave him so many chances to adjust his attitude. But when it never came and his actions became much more dangerous, I had no choice but to strip him of his Miraculous. I forced a magical vow that prevents him from speaking about the Miraculous or me."

"He could speak of it now. He didn't mention you by name, but he could speak about you." Marinette noted.

"The vow has weakened since unlike last time the Miraculous are now more public knowledge. He can't speak about everything but the rules have been bent and he knows it..." Fu sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I had hoped that being stripped of his Miraculous would have reduced the danger. He would either fade in the background or finally take the hint about turning his life around. But..."

"He was still dangerous." Alya noted.

"Yes, and while he was without Miraculous, what he learned while training under me, he used that to further his research. Did horrible experiments and people got hurt or killed. While he no longer had a Miraculous or was a magical threat, the Miraculous team had to be dispatched to take him down. He has been in prison ever since."

"But he has clearly escaped." Adrien noted.

"I don't know how he could have done so. The latest in high tech security, and with me pulling some strings to place a few...extras if you will. For something or someone to bypass those, it makes me fear that either Latombe has figured out how to circumvent them or someone else, powerful or smart enough, busted him out. And now...he will pick up where he left off."

"I know what he wants. But how does he think he can even achieve his insane goal?" Chloé asked.

"That I don't know. I now what he can do, but I have never figured out the 'how'. And that is another point against me. It was my fault. I created this monster. I gave him his Miraculous. I gave him the knowledge. I pressured him. and because I couldn't bring myself to destroy him...he lives to fight another day."

"It is not your fault. Maybe you made some mistakes but you didn't ask him to hurt and kill people. He decided that on his own." Marinette argued.

"I'm glad you have such faith in me even after anything, but it doesn't help that I still had a hand in it." Master Fu said. "And I must use my last time on Earth wisely, and rectify my mistake. I cannot leave you to face it alone."

"We can handle him. He may say he is no Hawkmoth but I now different. He has an ego, he thinks nothing of others, he doesn't have what we have. He has no one to count on. I won't say he isn't an easy foe. But Hawkmoth wasn't either and we could take him. And we are much more numerous and much more powerful this time." Alya said, being her usual confident self.

"We knew that Hawkmoth wouldn't be the only bully out there; But we vowed to take those out too should they ever show their ugly mug. And that's what we'll do!" Nino added.

"We're all older, stronger and wiser now. Including you, Master.You are not alone in this." Marinette said.

Fu felt touched. "That you still stand with me. It has taken me so long to truly learn to trust again. Or be a person worth of any trust. Literally one and a half century it took me." A tear ran down the cheek of the old man. "And while I still will doubt I am worthy of that trust, until my final breath I will fight. And I will make sure I will not leave you unprepared."

"What do we do next?" Adrien asked.

"We wait. We don't know where he is. He also doesn't want to be found. We need him to make the next step. And from every encounter we learn more until we know enough to find him." Marinette said.

"But not tonight. You all had two tough encounters today. I suggest turning in for the night. Now I know that you are growing faster, I can make up a new lesson plan for you to prepare yourselves. That and you all probably have worried parents or families to return to."

"I see now. My parents have tried to call me. They are going to pick me up. My mom also notes that you better have told us everything." Marinette said. "Nothing to worry in that regard."

"Whoa, mom called me like a trillion times. I better hurry home." Nino said. "See you guys tomorrow?"

"Of course, sweetie." Alya said as she kissed her boyfriend goodbye.

"I'll call Jean to pick me up, any of you need a ride?" Chloé asked.

"No thanks. I have gotten used to walking. I still have my privacy coat so no problem." Adrien said.

"Stay strong, Master Fu. Call for us if you need any help. And if you kwamis need something, we can bring it." Marinette said.

"I appreciate your kindness." Duusu said in a monotone, before going all teary eyed. "I am so touched by it!"

"Thank you , Master Marinette." Nooroo said with a polite bow.

With that, the heroes departed. They would rest now, but would be prepared for the worst that may yet to come.

At Latombe's lab... "You fool! You outed yourself like that! Everyone knows who you are now!" Mahamayuri growled.

"Not exactly. They know my name or face but few realize what I am truly capable of." Latombe said as he leaned back in his office chair, hands behind his head.

"We lost the element of surprise." Mahamayuri said.

"Listen, you bug...harpy...demon thing!" Latombe stopped leaning and talk back to the creature. "Fu would have recognized my handiwork anyways so the heroes would know something. I don't know if Fu trusts them enough with my secrets, but he allowed them to keep their Miraculous so he trusts them a great deal more then he ever did me. That and while he people will know I will attack, they still don't now when and how. Create uncertainty, fear...that and I refuse to be forgotten about again. I will not fade in obscurity."

"It is an ego trip for you? You are lucky you are still useful, human. Otherwise..." Mahamayuri said.

"You are short sighted, lacking flair. We can get from point A to pint B like we want but it doesn't need to be in a straight line." Latombe said.

"I am not the person for flash. But your methods better not impede our progress. I can tolerate your eccentricities but only as long as you keep proving yourself effective." Mahamayuri noted.

"Believe me, bugabird, I can mix business and pleasure without sacrificing either." Latombe said as he leaned back again. His first outing in years was fun, but he could do better. The next round will blow everyone's minds. Or at least blow up something.

As Latombe continued his plotting, Nino arrived back at home. He was surprised to immediately be tackled and smothered by his mother. He had see his mother worried before but he felt shocked at how much she trembled and cried. "Mom?"

"Habibi, I..." Nina stammered, barely able to get a few words out.

"Mom has been like that since that weird bad guy showed up on tv. Maybe she is scared but the heroes will kick that ugly guy's butt right? I don't know what to say to calm mom down." Chris explained as best as he could.

Nino returned his mom's hug. "Mom, what is it that got you this distressed? I now that guy may seem scary but what makes him so different from Hawkmoth, he was beaten and..."

"Nino...that monster we saw on tv. He is the one whom took your father from us." Nina cried. At that point, Nino's world collapsed.

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So with this part, the first episode of season two concludes. 
> 
> The heroes learn more about Latombe but the fight has only just begun. Past regrets of Fu are also revealed.
> 
> Furthermore, we see hints of other characters reacting to the news. OF course Sabine and Tom, of whom we know were also ex-wielders. Max because he is the brains of the operation, and a brainiac like him to counter a brainiac of evil is also a no-brainer. The sangré family though I haven't revealed their exact connection though we know they are shocked for SOME reason.
> 
> But the connection with the Lahiffes. I didn't intend that at first. I wanted to explain an absent father for Nino, but as I was writing, this was a good opportunity to tie that in.
> 
> Next chapter will be an interlude where Nino's shock over the revelation is explored. After that will be a second interlude which will explore how the heros revealed their identities to the newbies.


	5. Interlude 1: The Lahiffes

Nino wasn't a hateful person. He didn't bear grudges and he could feel dislike for someone, annoyance. But never hate. Even Hawkmoth he didn't really hate. He didn't like what Hawkmoth did to Paris and everyone, but Hawkmoth...in the end, while threatening felt cartoonish as a villain. Also he didn't seem right in his head. He disliked the old man greatly, but it wasn't true hate as it didn't feel consuming.

But Latombe...he just came out of nowhere and pulled that thing with the slug dragon (he still couldn't pronounce the creature's name). He thought it was just another madman like Gabriel Agreste. Just another one disturbing the peace and needed to be taken down. Just an average day on the superhero job he guessed.

Latombe had a past with the Miraculous. Gabriel technically had too and they dealt with him so Nino didn't worry about Latombe more then he did Hawkmoth. Not that he underestimated him, but he knew Latombe could be dealt with. Nino was not apathetic to what the villains did. Not at all. He didn't like them hurting or using people, and so he would gladly stop them.

But things got more personal with Latombe once his mother made a startling revelation.

"He was the one whom took your father from us."

Nino's heart had stopped for a few moments, like his ribcage compressed, a pain not physical but crushing his chest. Poor Chris was only a baby, but Nino was old enough at the time to realize his father would be never coming back. At the time that was all he understood, the rest of what was said went over his head. But his father was gone and that's what stuck with him at the time.

For his young mind at the time, he barely could phantom why someone would have hurt and killed his father. The bad man he understood was gone at the time too, so he wouldn't hurt others again. It didn't bring his father back. Said culprit barely registered when all he could think off that Enzo Lahiffe would never come home again.

_ "Daddy!" _

_ "Hey, sport! Come over here and give your old man a hug." _

_ "You are not old daddy. Ok, you are 'daddy old', but 'daddy old' is not really old." _

_ "That's one way we can look at it. Oh, almost forgot. I got something for you on the way here."  _

_ "Bubbles!"  _

_ "Yes, bubbles. Know how much you love them. So, wanna see how big we can make them?" _

It was one of Nino's fondest memories. It was not a big or important moment. But it were the small things that he remembers the best. Enzo Lahiffe whom was enjoying himself way too much as he danced to outdated music on the radio. Whom scratched his belly when he was hungry. The memories that made him human, and not just one of many faces on the news when tragedy struck.

Nino hadn't been able to talk, or even move. He even forgot what 'moving' is supposed to be. He was pale, he could barely stand. He had lost his lunch on the spot (luckily after his mother had broken the hug). He was hollow, unable to grasp, unable to...Then the emptiness was filled by something else. Hate. He hated Latombe. He hated him.

His father was a good man. What reason did he...why would he...He was no former hero like Marinette's parents. He was not a law enforcer. He was an average but loving guy, whom just spend the days making a honest living and lovingly taking care of his family. The way Latombe had spoken in his message in that he knew people would get hurt or die. But he didn't care. Whatever this madman's crazy plan was for the world...other lives didn't matter to him, they were just bugs to be squashed in his wake.

Replaying Latombe's message to Paris in his mind and thinking of it in relation to his father...it filled him with hate. He had no room for fear left. After what he's faced he wasn't sure what else there was to fear. He wasn't sad. He had long mourned his father, trying to live life to his fullest to honor him. No, hate is what filled him. If Hawkmoth still was active, he would have the most powerful akuma ever now.

Hate...It boiled up within him like molten magma. Like a volcano. And eventually a volcano erupts. With a pained scream of frustration he kicked over the living room table. And with his enhanced strength it flew across the room, into a cupboard. It became nearly bent in half due to the impact. He wanted to go after Latombe. He wanted to find him, he wanted to end him.

But that feeling left when he saw his mother standing there, in shock at his feat of strength. She may have expected him to react emotionally. She hadn't expected it to be that bad. Chris was in a corner, looking a bit afraid of what he saw his brother do.

Hatred could be powerful, all-consuming. But seeing his mother and his little brother like that...Latombe could come later and he would get what he was coming for him. But right now, when looking at his family. He apparently still had tears left to shed. "Mom...I'm sorry..." he muttered.

Nina's shocked look faded quickly as she took her son in another hug. "It's ok, habibi. I know it is hard and..." Nina was barely able to talk either. As she embraced her son, him returning the hug and both bawling their eyes out.

_ "Enzo! The baby kicked."  _

_ "That's wonderful! You hear that Nino? Your little baby brother lets us know he's here." _

_ "Babies are stinky and loud, that's what Millie from my class said." _

_ "Maybe they can be...But let me tell you, Nino; when your brother is born, and you see him...you will instantly love him." _

_ "How do you know, daddy?"  _

_ "Because it happened when I held you for the first time, Nino. It was a wonderful feeling. I knew at that moment I would love you forever."  _

_ "You want to see if you can feel your brother, Nino?"  _

_ "Ok, mommy. Whoa...I feel him move a bit. And...I feel warm. I think I love him already."  _

_ "Told you, son. Your little brother will be special, just like you." _

Chris had crawled out of the corner he was hiding. He was still a bit weary, but he saw that Nino was sad now. He was angry first, but sad now. Chris never got to know their father. And it had to do with that weird man that appeared on all tv's and phones earlier today. That's all he understood for now. He has made his brother mad, and both him and his mother sad. So he moved in closer, as the two pulled Chris in their hug as well.

Chris knew that, being so young he didn't know a lot of words or could say a lot to make people feel better. He didn't have that wisdom that adults have yet. But hugging them and letting them know you're there is at least something he can do. That and hugging was nice.

Wayzz was still in his favorite hiding spot, under Nino's hat. It was warm and comfy. And he could offer silent support from there. He could massage Nino's head unseen should the boy feel out of it. Right now he hugged the top of Nino's head to provide him comfort. With Nina and Chris around he could not afford to be seen, so it was the best he can do.

Wayzz loved all his Chosen. He loves Fu and he loves Nino. But despite being the kwami of defense there are things that Wayzz cannot protect his Chosen from. Tragedy is one of them. Whether it is Fu losing the only home and family he knew, the temple and Order of the Guardians, or Nino losing his father.

So while in private he could provide words of comfort later, for now he gave Nino some hugs of silent comfort. Right now, it was like the family was grieving for Enzo Lahiffe all over again, old wounds being ripped open. His Chosen would need him more then ever. As his partner, his confidant, the mentor and friend. He will be there for his hatchling.

The family remained in the hug for a while. Afterwards they cleaned up the mess in their house. No one felt like having dinner. Nina had just dropped onto her bed, not switching into nightwear, her boys in her arms. They didn't exactly cry themselves to sleep, as they had been out of tears to shed by that point. But the emotional exhaustion was added to the physical one and they couldn't hold off sleep any longer.

It was not the end. Not yet. But this family vowed that they wouldn't let none of her own be taken again. The future was uncertain now, but at least they had the comfort of each other. They rather wouldn't think about what's to come yet. For now they wanted some rest...and to forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry for the later update. Life was a bitch. But now I have the week off, I can get caught up with some of my projects.
> 
> Now I had a bit of bad luck. A misclick lost me a lot of progress; The interlude would have also included Marinette speaking to her parents about Latombe. BUt due to that incident I lost that part. So I just fixe the bit with Nino which luckily was largely saved, and do a separate for Marinette and family afterwards.
> 
> Also gotten out of my art slump so I can share some artwork for my story.
> 
> Latombe: https://www.deviantart.com/kivathedcwizard/art/Miraculous-Alliance-Latombe-858761691
> 
> Mahamayuri: https://www.deviantart.com/kivathedcwizard/art/Miraculous-Alliance-Mahamayuri-858761818
> 
> Carcohl: https://www.deviantart.com/kivathedcwizard/art/Miraculous-Alliance-Carcohl-858761959


	6. Interlude 2: The Dupain-Chengs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Supposed to be part of the previous one, but a mis-click lost me a lot of progress. So they ended up as separate chapters as I had to rewrite this bit.

Marinette had returned home after her team's visit with Fu. Fu has told the story of Latombe to her. How he was a former wielder, how he fell from grace, from a hero to a psychopath, if he ever was the former at all.

But Marinette realized that her parents were also part of the last generation of Miraculous wielders, and Fu has advised to talk to them to have some gaps filled in by them. She was going to do that anyways. But she wondered how her parents had reacted to the message if they really knew Latombe.

When she had come home and walked upstairs, she found her parents sitting on the couch with solemn looks on their faces. Marinette saw pieces of furniture broken off, and recognized it as a feat of strength only her father would be capable off. "I guess you saw the message?" she said, though she already knew the answer

"Everyone in Paris saw it." Sabine sighed. "You were with Fu, were you? I hope that he told you everything this time?"

"He told me anything what he knew in regards to Latombe. A former wielder, fell from grace, now is a huge psychopath. But he also advised me to ask you about him. After all, Fu didn't had admitted to having his judgement clouded in regards to Latombe in the past. You can tell me something we both may have missed." Marinette asked.

Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse. "I would love to tell her more, but...Bridgette didn't quite interact with Latombe outside of the mask so I cannot tell her any more either." Tikki admitted.

"I guess that's fair..." Sabine said. "Now, you must now that we didn't know Latombe was Wyvern until the day he was stripped of his Miraculous."

"Maybe we are getting ahead a bit. Now, you remember those reports about mass murdering serial killer psychos? In the fact that you don't always notice in that they can pretend to be pretty normal? Well, that kind of happened with us. We didn't see what a monster he was until much later." Tom said as he massaged his forehead with his hand.

"How could we? When Latombe came to our class, he was...well a weenie. He was shy, timid, nervous, and seemed to be afraid of his own shadow. He was smart, sure, a genius even. But he was the type of geek, the one that bullies would go after without a second thought." Sabine explained.

"And Wyvern...as Wyvern he was over the top. In the fact he makes Chat Noir looks restrained. Overly hammy. Capable sure but the type of guy that was clearly not notified that the auditions for the amateur drama ended years ago." Tom said. He let out a laugh, but it was not a happy one. Just one that he briefly noted the irony in regards to what he was talking about. It was an empty laugh.

"Over time we noticed changes in both sides of him. In his civilian guise he became braver, willing to stand up against his bullies. More confident. Everyone thought he was growing up, becoming better..." Sabine shivered a bit. "He began pushing back against his bullies. Ok, he was in his right to some degree. But even when the bullies stopped and left him alone...he kept pushing back."

"In short, he became the bully to his former tormentors. And he had gone above and beyond to what his former tormentors did. They had just sniped at him, taking and hiding his stuff, stuffed him in broom closets. But after his last trick, one of the former tormentors was left with an injury that left him with a permanent limp. He had aspirations to become a dancer. That dream was forever shattered." Tom explained.

"And as Wyvern...he became bolder, more reckless. To get the job done, he would get more risky, caring less about collateral damage. And don't forget, unlike you our team were not public figures. We could have been exposed. There were luckily cover-up stories provided but..." Sabine said, she paused mid-sentence. "But that wasn't the worst of it."

"There was this orc...he had a hostage. Used her as a human shield. We needed to thin of a plan to get her away to take out the orc without hurting her. But he...he literally went through her to get to the orc." Tom said. He looked pale at the thought.

"Bridgette's Miraculous Ladybug cure may have brought her back, but the girl was so traumatized by the ordeal." Tikki added. It was something she had witnessed and hence could talk about. "Spent the rest of her life in a mental institution."

"Fu had been making excuses for him, as he may have said. He believed that everyone deserves a chance. He may have saw something in him we didn't, or he didn't want to admit a mistake. But that mission convinced him to finally open his eyes and take the Dragon Miraculous from him." Sabine said.

"Went to juvie afterwards. Hadn't heard him for years. We all retired form the hero job and moved on with our lives." Tom added. "We had all about forgotten about him."

"But he came back. Juvie couldn't hold him. It was foolish to think that a former wielder would have been held down that easily." Sabine said.

"He also had come back at the worst time. Fu had asked us to come out of retirement for one last mission." Tom added. "It became the second last mission. Because right afterwards Latombe made his move."

"We were crippled by the mission before. Bridgette and Felix had given their lives to stop a threat, and we were without a Black Cat or Ladybug." Tikki continued. She looked sad. "Despite living for eons, it never gets easier losing a bug. I wasn't ready for a new one right afterwards. Besides, we couldn't put someone new into the field to deal with such an experienced enemy."

"So it was just all the temporaries together. We thought our numbers and sheer force would be enough. But we had all still been grieving and not thinking clearly." Sabine said. Tears started welling up in her eyes. "But we couldn't do nothing. My sister's sacrifice would have been for nothing."

"When we tracked him down in his lair, we found...all these people he took for his twisted experiments. I don't dare to talk about it. It gave me nightmares for years." Tom said as as he buried his face in his hands.

"You got him in the end, that's why he went to jail right?" Marinette asked.

"We did. But at several cost; None of us came out unscathed." Sabine said as she put her hands onto her stomach. "Even without a Miraculous he was dangerous and his inventions...they were made to fight us. One got a lucky shot in...I was stabbed." Sabine broke down in tears. "It had missed my vital organs by millimetres, I almost had to leave you and Tom behind, Marinette."

Marinette's eyes went wide in shock. She now vaguely recalled a time when she was a little girl. She was staying with Kim's family for the week. During that time...Sabine was in the hospital. Believed she got stabbed by a mugger. But she had never thought that it was because of Latombe.

"It was hard, but...we got through it, so we could be there for you, Some had it worse. Allegra never walked again. Claude suffered with depression which eventually became too much..." Tom added. The man was crying too.

Marinette wept for her parents too. Their pain stung in her own heart. Her parents have been through so much...and they still turned out such wonderful people were testaments to their strength.

The way they were talking...now people can heard of murders or the work of psychopaths on the news, but those were fact, incidents listened off by newsreaders whom had to remain professional. Her parents had witnessed it, and for them it was personal. The hurt and emotions of the past were still there.

And on the other hand, there were her parents. They had to tell her, they still felt like sparing her, but knowing she was Ladybug and being the only thing in Latombe's way, how horrible it was...they couldn't leave her in the dark. "There is one more thing you need to know, Marinette." Sabine said, her voice barely above a whisper. It was something that must be the most difficult thing for them to reveal.

Marinette felt that the next thing that was going to be dropped was going to be a bomb. She steeled herself. She didn't speak up but nodded to let them know they could continue. "Remember what happened to your godfather?" Tom asked.

"Uncle Enzo?" Marinette asked. Her eyes went wide as it didn't take her long, with her Ladybug brain, to put the pieces together. "No...did he..."

"During that raid, we found him. What Latombe had done to him. Subjected to his horrible experiments..." Sabine said.

Marinette went paler then before. The room started to spin...Her breathing and heartbeat sped up and became more frantic as she felt the walls of the room coming towards her. Her chest felt compressed. She hadn't one of these episodes in a long time, not since she had grown into her role as Ladybug. "MARINETTE!" Tikki and her parents shouted in unison.

_ "Hey little Bluebell!"  _

_ "Uncle Enzo! You came!" _

_ "Of course I would come. Couldn't miss my favorite goddaughter's birthday, could I? Aunt Nina and Nino are coming soon, as soon as they picked up something special for you along the way."  _

_ "Cool! Hey, Uncle Enzo, I made this drawing for you." _

_ "That is nice, but today is your birthday, you should get the gifts." _

_ "But I like drawing for people. Look, I drew you!" _

_ "I don't have a suit like that, but you gave me a nice suit."  _

_ "Oh, maybe when I'm grown up, I can make the suit for you!"  _

_ "Seeing what you can do, I wouldn't doubt you can do it, Marinette." _

Marinette found herself in her parents' arms, Tikki in top of her head, softly humming and buzzing, the vibrations having a calming effect. Her parents, despite having been emotionally troubled earlier, had pushed it aside and now were comforting her.

She hadn't had a panic attack in a long while. But she was caught off guard. She had hated Hawkmoth for the pain she put her kitty through, for tormenting Paris. But she hated Latombe even more at that moment. But right now the hate had nothing on the sorrow she felt.

She wanted to let things out, scream, lash out, cry...But then she realized something. "Nino..." Nina would probably have seen Latombe's message too. And she would tell Nino, even if she never got the full story. She would have to fill in the rest of her team including Nino later. Nino would have taken it harder then her. It would destroy him. It destroyed her a bit too, but for Nino...It was his father.

She needed to be prepared, to face Latombe in the future, to take him down. To prevent him from hurting or taking away anyone else ever again. She was Ladybug. She needed to be at top of her game. She had to be strong. Her face went neutral, her gaze becoming almost apathetic. "I'm ok, not panicking now." she said in a dry soft tone.

"Mari, I know it is a shock..." Sabine said.

"I have things to do." Marinette said as she wanted to get up and head towards her room. But her father grabbed her arm. "Dad, let go."

"Mari, we know you well enough. You are slipping, regressing. You are thinking of the worst case scenario now and you are going to be up all night thinking for each possible outcome. We know about the huge responsibilities you have. But please don't run yourself ragged again." Tom pleaded.

"I need to...can't waste a moment. Can't bear to lose..." Marinette stammered.

"You won't lose to Latombe that we know. What we can't bear is that you lose yourself." Sabine said. "Your father and I nearly lost ourselves after we last faced him. Only the fact you were at home waiting for us, is what has kept us sane at that time." Sabine pulled Marinette back into a hug. "Let us do the same now."

Tikky nuzzled Marinette's cheek. "We're here Marinette. This is...this is what he wants. He wants people to panic, slip up. But he doesn't understand...he could never understand the bonds the people have with each other."

"I...I'm sorry...I...I just am getting...tired." Marinette was really tired. Two fights against magical creatures, hearing about Latombe, and now the bombs her parents dropped. Mentally, magically, physically and emotionally she was exhausted.

"Stay with us, please." Tom asked as he guided Marinette towards the couch. "Let us be here for you, dumpling."

"I...I'm sorry. You are probably hurting too and I was running out on you and..." Marinette said.

"Even now, you think more of other's feelings then your own, Marinette." Sabine said with a sad but soft smile. "You're such a sweet and young girl Marinette, we are proud of you."

Marinette fatigue was catching up as she rested her shoulder on her mother's shoulder. "Mom...dad...Tikki...I love you." she said before she closed her eyes and was almost instantaneously asleep.

After a few moments of silence, Tom spoke up. "I don't feel like moving now."

"Me neither." Sabine said. They shifted themselves around, falling asleep in a cuddle pile with Marinette between them, and Tikki resting on top of Marinette's blue hair. It has been a harrowing and exhausting day. And it was only the beginning.

But worry for the future can wait another fortnight. Right now the family needed each other for a bit. They felt a little glum now, but they were a family, they stood strong together, they would not be broken apart.


	7. Interlude 3: The reveal

Note: This takes place before the events of the first chapter of season two.

Another day, another mission for the heroes of the Miraculous Team. While Hawkmoth was long gone and Heroes Day was behind them, the Chosen were allowed to remain heroes, as they had proven their worth. It also helped to get jobs done much easier.

Right now, the heroes were all gathered around the abandoned warehouse district where they normally trained in between missions. Due to diverging schedules of their civilian lives the heroes aren't always all together at the same time. But they had kept this slot in their schedules because Ladybug was making a big announcement. However, no one was too sure about what said announcement is going to be.

"They are not going to take Miraculouses...Miraculi? They are not going to take it away from us, are they?" Petit Souris asked.

"Come one, you really think that? We are good heroes...At least I think we are good heroes." Roi Singe said. "I mean we all showed what we could do during Heroes Day and with all those magical beasts we fought lately. Remember when we fell that tree thing the other day?"

"That is called an Ent." Kempfhahn notified.

"You are way into this magical creature thing, aren't you?" Pan asked his boyfriend.

"Hey, it is interesting. It also makes for good inspiration for my artwork." Kempfhahn notified.

"Now, to go back on what Roi Singe told us, and even if I say so myself, I conclude that we have been utterly efficient in our roles as heroes so the chance of being asked to return the Miraculous is 9,57 percents." Pegasus notified.

"Maybe she is going to teach us some new trick? Something important we all need to know? Maybe it is one of those potion things that allow them to have ice and water power-ups. I heard there was a space one too." Porcelet asked excited.

"Please let it not be more studying, after school and fighting that giant mantis earlier today, I don't know if I would be able to absorb anything she says." Bunnix grumbled.

"Maybe she would inform us about our performance today. We did well but there is always room for improvement. She may comment on where we could have done better, what we should look out for..." Ryuko notified.

"But should that warrant all of us being here? I mean, they could be telling us one to one in that regard?" Taurus asked, putting a finger to his chin in a pensive manner.

"Maybe these three can tell us a little bit more?" Tigresse pointed behind her with her thumb. Viperion, Laika and Pipistrello (the latter whom was juggling with a trio of cupcakes of all things) suddenly became the center of attention.

"You three have been awfully quiet. You know something more?" Roi Singe asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Laika was working with the Miraculous team before she got her Miraculous so she know more about what it is going to be about." Pegasus concluded.

"I could also understand Pipistrello, she was the last recruit before the rest of us. But what would Viperion know?" Porcelet asked curiously.

"Can't tell, there will be spoilers. I'll just say you are going to be in for a surprise." Viperion said as he just gently strummed his lyre's strings.

"Oh come on, just a little hint?" Tigresse pouted.

"Sorry little sis, can't have curiosity kill the cat." Viperion chuckled.

"It is not going to be long. There are some details that can only be filled in once they have given their announcement. So all I ask you is to learn a bit of patience." Laika noted.

"Hey bat-girl, can you..." Roi Singe asked.

"I know something but I won't tell, I won't tell, I won't tell, I know something but I won't tell, nah-nah-nah-nah!" Pipistrello sang as she did a silly dance to go with it, and poking Roi Singe in the chest with her index fingers.

"You should have known better then to try and get a straight answer out of her." Bunnix noted. "I just hope the big chiefs get here quick because I get quite..." Bunnix, and everyone else for that matter, was startled when Chat Noir came onto the scene...using a Superman-esque landing for dramatic effect. "...impatient."

"Ask and you shall receive." Chat said as he rose up from his pose.

"Sweetheart, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Pan asked.

"Oh I'm thinking what you're thinking." Kempfhahn replied.

"We need to work that in the comic!" they said simultaneously.

"Did you really have to do the Superman intro?" Ladybug said as she flew next to Chat.

"Yes, I had." Chat said, no shame in his voice.

"What do I do with you?" Ladybug asked.

"You could kiss me?" Chat asked with a smirk.

"After we're done here, Kitty!" Ladybug said as she booped Chat's noise and smirked.

"Those two are as sappy as Ad-as a couple I know in real life." Roi Singe noted.

Queen Bee, Rena Rouge and Carapace had followed Ladybug and Chat Noir. "I wanted to do the Superman landing intro." Rena Rouge whined.

"I'll let you do it next time." Chat Noir promised.

"This does take away a bit from the seriousness of the announcement we were going to make." Queen Bee noted.

"I like to think that we are lightening the mood before dropping the bomb." Chat Noir noted.

"Anyhow!" Ladybug said as she clapped loudly to draw anyone's attention. "Most of you probably wonder why we have all called you here. It is not a bad thing I want to address, per se. But it is something we will need to be careful with. First we got to say, we are proud on the progress all of you have made. You came to us in a time of need, but you stuck around, accepted the possibilities, and you continue to look out for Paris."

Chat continued where Ladybug left off: "Now, remember that during Heroes' Day we were a bit rushed and we tried to gather as many allies as we could. As a result some of you were handed your Miraculouses at the same time. So select few already know one another identities. But us, the Main Five as the media dubs us, we know each others' identities too."

"The world is always going to need heroes." Rena Rouge added. "We all kept track of your progress, and we think that you all are ready...we all are a good team. But to be the best team we can be, there can be no more secrets."

"We know we can trust you to have our backs, we can trust you with the responsibilities, so there is one more thing we can trust you with." Carapace continued. "Our identities."

"NO WAY!" Roi Singe blurted out, excitedly.

"No joke, Roi Singe. Not only we are sharing our identities, you are also all going to share your identities with the rest of the team. At least that is what we ask of you." Queen Bee answered. "It is a big step, we know. But we have made some big steps the last few months, so we can afford to make one more."

"It would be great to know what wonderful people they are behind the masks..." Porcelet muttered softly.

"By my calculations, while there are some additional points to keep in mind, with such a large group of heroes it would be the most beneficial outcome for us all to come clean in this regard." Pegasus said.

"These are people whom we fought beside, had our backs. What do you think?" Petit Souris asked Taurus.

"I think we can do this." Taurus held Petit Souris' hand, whom nodded in return.

After everyone agreed, they would all agree to drop their transformations. "I will count to three, and then we will..." Ladybug said.

"So, is it going to be when you say 'three' that we drop our Mighty Morphs, or are you going to say 'Go Go!' after you counted to three or..." Pipistrello rambled.

"Just drop them now!" Ladybug said, before Pipistrello would go on another tangeant and knowing her they would get way off track if they allowed that to happen. "Spots off!"

Everyone responded quickly with their own detransformation phrase. As soon as various colored lights engulfed the area, the kids all turned into their civilian forms. They looked around a bit. The surprise was there when they saw several of their friends and classmates among them. But when they turned towards where Ladybug, Chat Noir, Carapace, Rena Roue and Queen Bee stood all eyes went wide.

"Er...hi?" Marinette said nervously, feeling the confidence from the mask slip away a bit.

Several people like Max and Kagami kept a neutral look. Luka, Sabrina and Lila didn't look too different since they already knew. Some others looked like they were thinking hard, thinking back to several events which made more sense now with their current knowledge. Some (and with some I mean Kim) looked at them wide-eyed and had his mouth open like a fish.

Now everyone was letting the information sink in, no one dared to talk for a while. They wanted their next answer to come out as something profound and thought out, not as something stupid and bumbling. Unfortunately Kim was the first one to speak up. "HOLY SHIT!"

Some people facepalmed, others ignored him, and otherwise there were a few chuckles. "You know, it makes a lot of sense now. Super Class Prez Marinette and Sunshine Boy and their besties..." Marc said.

"I am not class president anymore." Marinette muttered.

"Still Rose uses your tactics and still asks you for advice." Marc reacted.

"If it isn't broken, don't fix it." Rose said with a chipper smile. "Oh, this is wonderful. The entire class is a superhero class. Er...aside from a few."

"It makes a lot of sense in hindsight. My own research and calculations came close, but for some reason something always went wrong, like a detail I missed. I suppose it may be because of the glamours that were once mentioned." Max noted.

"Believe me, they were a pain to break." Sabrina explained.

"You broke through them?" Max asked impressed.

"I did, but it gives you a headache and a half. I'm pretty sure you would have broken through them eventually as well." Sabrina said as she fumbled with a lock of her hair. Max blushed a bit as Kim chuckled a bit, before a grumpy Max shut him up with an elbow to the stomach.

"I had suspected it too. The way you moved, the way you fight. It is in the body language. My mind was blurred to your facial features, but a fighting style is like a fingerprint. Something you pick up when you are an experienced fencer." Kagami added.

"Of course it is her..." Nathaniel sighed. "Super organized, creative, is able to make the craziest of plans work. My first two crushes were the same."

"Hey, what do I have to say, when I figured out the two most wonderful girls in the world were the same." Chat asked.

"I had to live with the fact my dream boy was a huge dork with a love of puns. And the worst part of it is I love the dorky side of him." Marinette quipped.

"I totally fangasm'd. " Alya admitted.

"Yeah, my eardrums are still recovering from that squeal." Nino added.

"I needed smellingsalts." Chloé admitted.

"Chloé-girl, I was giving you a hard time during a period where you were genuinely doing some good as a hero, I am a bit scared to think that I pulled stupid pranks on you. And you Lila..." Alix said, running her fingers through her hair.

"Water under the bridge." Chloé said, waving her hand dismissively.

"You knew all along, did you?" Juleka asked Luka.

"A heartsong is like a fingerprint, just like Kagami says a fighting style is. It cannot be altered or faked." Luka said. "And I'd recognize my Angelbee's song everywhere."

"This...makes things somewhat easier. I mean, I'm happy there are no total strangers among us. Everyone knows each other already. But on the other hand, when we rush into danger, I know it is going to be my friends risking their lives beside me." Ivan said.

"Yeah, it weird. Certainly when you got used to having friends again, and sometimes fearing that those can be ripped away again. We got a dangerous job after all." Lila admitted.

"But we should feel honored. I am glad I have also finally made real friends, but they trusted me to fight beside them. To have someone put this must trust in you feels...wonderful." Kagami noted.

"Wait, does that mean that Hawkmoth was beating on his own son?" Juleka asked with a gasp.

"He was no father of mine. Just a sperm donor." Adrien scoffed.

"Oh...sorry." Juleka said sheepishly.

"It's ok, really. Don't pity me. He was dead to me before I even realized he was Hawkmoth. Things have been a lot better for me ever since I dropped him out of my life." Adrien assured her. "I had a lot of time to get over it. He was not a father, he was Gabriel Agreste, and he had to be stopped."

"Well, maybe he should have been dropped of the Eiffel Tower. In a barrel full of rusty razorblades." Rose said. The fact her chirpy smile didn't leave her face had some others a little bit disturbed.

"This just got crazy!" Kim blurted out.

"Please, crazy is my roommate." Lila noted.

"So...Alya how do you make that footage for your blog when you are out fighting yourself?" Nathaniel asked.

"The weapons aren't just tools or communicators, they also scan the surroundings. I just leave the recording on each time I transform. And since things like your phone also gets absorbed in the transformation, after turning back to normal, my phone still has the footage I need." Alya explained.

"Does anyone else know?" Mylène asked.

"Of course I have mentioned a guardian. I should introduce all of you to him soon. We suspect Miss Bustier may know but we haven't been able to confirm it. And my parents, but that was because they were former wielders." Marinette explained.

"Wait, what? Your parents were heroes too?" Marc asked with wide eyes.

"Well, you see Marinette's dad? And the moves her mom has? I can see it." Alix said. She sighed. "This is a lot."

"We know that it is. But hey, we could always count on all of you to have our backs or help us out. So of course we didn't want to keep you out of the loop. We're all in this together now." Nino said.

"Yeah, we are one big happy sickly sweet family. Yay!" Chloé droned.

It was a bit quiet for a while after that. The processing wasn't still fully done. After a few minutes someone spoke up again. "So, what do we do next?" Juleka asked.

"We continue like normal. We hang out as friends and fellow students. We fight together as heroes. Though communicating when thing take an unexpected turn will be easier." Sabrina noted.

"I...am glad you all made it here. And...we'e grateful you put faith in us." Adrien said.

"The part of us that thinks the worst thought you may have been disappointed it was us." Marinette noted.

"Disappointed in you guys? Never!" Marc noted.

"We are all grateful as well to have this much faith put into us." Ivan added.

"You guys deserve it." Marinette said with a warm smile. "For now, I suggest we all head home, let things sink in. Afterwards, we live our lives to the fullest as civilians and train for what may to come as heroes. Knowing that whatever comes next, it will be faced by all of us together."

"So, whose up for a an eighteen person fist-bump?" Alya asked as she raised a fist. All of them raised their fists and stood around in a circle and put their fists together. "One, two, three..."

"POUND IT!" they all said simultaneously.

After that, the heroes all went their own ways again. Any lingering confusion and shock would leave their body overnight, but they would come back together again, as a solid group of friends. It could be said for sure, anyone trying to mess with this group would have a hard time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to do this after 'Latombe' but the Nino and Marinette interludes took priority. But here it is! The chapter that explains the reveal between the Main Five and the rest of the team.
> 
> Last interlude for now, next is the new episode


	8. Toybot Part I

On a chilly, windy day in October, at the graveyard, a young boy, or almost a young man, stood by a grave. He ducked down in front of it, as he ran his gloved hand over the stone and read the inscription: 'Here lies Enzo Lahiffe, loving husband, father and godfather'. A heavy sigh came from Nino as he continued to sit crouched down by the grave.

"You are going to hurt your knees if you keep crouched down like that." a soft female voice said behind him. Nino looked up to see Marinette. "I thought I'd find you here." she said, with a weak smile. It was clear sorrow was present in her eyes as well, holding back her usual sunny disposition. Nino stood up. "The others are worried for you."

"Then why are they not here?" Nino asked softly.

"They are busy..." Marinette began.

"So life goes on for them while we are here, wallowing in misery?" Nino snapped.

"...tracking down Latombe!" Marinette finished. "They want to help. Latombe cannot allowed to remain free. But they are all going to stop by at one point to inquire, because they care."

"Oh..." Nino said, feeling bad for having snapped earlier. "Well, I appreciate that but I cannot look people in the eyes now. I don't want their pity."

"They don't pity you Nino, they care. We all care. Don't forget, Uncle Enzo was my family too." Marinette said, putting a hand on Nino's shoulder.

"You...seem awfully calm about the whole thing." Nino noted.

"I have to keep it together. I am Ladybug after all. Would be disastrous if I were to slip up...I have to suffer in private. Speaking off..." Marinette began.

"I promise I will not let it get in my way of my Carapace duties. Though if I were to meet Latombe, don't mind if I punch him quite a bit harder then usual." Nino said.

"If I get some licks in, I'd agree to that." Marinette said with a soft smile.

Nino let out a brief chuckle. It only helped a little, but it was something. "You'd think he'd be...proud of us?"

"He was always proud of us, Nino." Marinette assured him. "You didn't become a hero because you were our friend, but you were willing to step up and offer your help, doing what is right."

"He taught me that you know." Nino said as he looked back at the gravestone.

"It meant he was a good father." Marinette said.

"The best..." Nino muttered softly.

"The others will try to reach out to you. Please don't turn them away. They are your friends, after all." Marinette asked.

"I know...Oh crud, I forgot about Alya, I promised I'd be there...you think she'll go easy on me?" Nino asked.

"Maybe a little, but no way you are getting out of a bollocking. You worried her the most." Marinette said.

"That's fair I suppose. If I am quick, I can be there not too late and avoid a little bollocking." Nino said.

"A little." Marinette said as she held her thumb and index finger half an inch apart.

"I best go then..." Nino said. "It was good talking, Marinette."

"Yeah." Marinette said softly as she watched Nino leave. Once he was out of sigh, the she tiredly scurried over to a nearby tree, put he back against it and slid down on the ground, looking more tired then ever.

Her parents may have done their best to prevent her from burying herself in more work then she can handle again. But she felt tired. The things she focused upon began, demanding a lot still. Her studies, commissions, hero duties...not to mention that she was focused on developing her healing powers to help Emilie and Nathalie and some Guardian training. However, she could have handled all that if the bomb of Latombe hadn't been drop weeks ago.

Nino made haste towards Alya's place, as he looked at a wall with some posters on it. One of those posters was a wanted poster of Latombe. It was a neutral looking sketch of the person. But for a moment, Nino seemed to swear that the drawing started to twist until it was curled into the smug grin he came to associate with that monster. His fists clenched as the familiar anger boiled up again.

He punched the wall on which the poster sat. It didn't leave a hole, but it did leave an indent, and the poster was shredded. Nino held his fist in pain. Luckily he had a bit of additional strength, but it wasn't as great as when he was fully transformed. Though he soon realized what he did, as he looked at the indent in the wall, ignoring the pain and not sticking around for any onlookers staring at him.

We cut to somewhere else and to someone in a much more chipper mood. Unfortunately it was Latombe whom was whistling while he was at work. Mahamayuri overlooked him. "that irritating whistle best be because things are getting along nicely and not to annoy me?"

"Why can't it be both?" Latombe asked as he was coding something on his computer. "But don't get whatever you have around your arse in a twist. This will work out great." Latombe grabbed half a cheeseburger that was lying next to his workspace, and messily stuffed it in his mouth

Mahamayuri scowled. "Disgusting pig."

"Hey, give me a break. I was jailed for a decade or so. I enjoy good food again now I'm out of jail." he said as he threw the empty cheeseburger box in a pile of wrappings and boxes he had lying around. Earlier today, aside his cheeseburger he had consumed a batch of normal fries, a batch of curly fries, a batch of chili cheese fries, a portion of chicken nuggets, some fried chicken tenders, a chicken wrap and some onion rings. And right now, he grabbed one of the deserts, an Orea ice-cream sundae.

"I can't believe that you went out to get all that. What if you were seen? What if you left behind a body?" Mahamayuri asked.

"Give me some credit, I have decent disguises. And I may admit I am a murderous bastard, I don't do so willy nilly, always with purpose. The people at the fastfood place don't deserve that treatment. My food was in perfect order, even gave them a tip." Latombe said as he continued dialing away on his keyboard. "You have so little faith in me?"

"Yes." Mahamayuri said bluntly.

"You know, that kind of hurt." Latombe said in a dry tone. "No matter, Mr. Yandere, the programming is about..." He clicked 'Enter' "Done! Now to upload the programming, and I can introduce you to my new invention." He got up went to a different room, Mahamayuri gliding behind him.

It was covered with a tarp, and Latombe stood there, acting like the mayor about to unveil a statue. "Lady...gentlemen...whatever you are, presenting to you the newest tool to counter the Miraculous wielders. I present to you...Toybot!" he said as he pulled the tarp off.

Mahamayuri eyed the robot. It looked like a giant wind-up action toy robot. "It looks ridiculous. This is what you've spent the last few weeks working on?" he asked.

"Ah, don't be deceived by his looks. He may not look like much but it can fight like the dickens." Latombe said.

"Really now?" Mahamayuri said as he raised an eyebrow. He shot forward at the robot, but it quickly lifted one of its claw-like clamp hands and held it in front of him, blocking the blow Mahamayuri was about to land. Mahamayuri backed off. "It at least has good reflexes."

"Oh, that was just the tip of the iceberg. I had its AI scan footage of the heroes fighting, it will know their moves before they make it, and it will study their patterns to become even better. A learning robot. It will be able to gather so much useful data for us." Latombe said.

"Interesting." Mahamayuri said. "But I will fully believe it when I see it."

"No worries, just a final tune-up and this bot is ready to go." Latombe said with a grin. "Bring out the popcorn, because it will be quite a show."

Nino has made it to Alya's place, and they were now in her room privately talking. With Alya being privately annoyed. "Do you know how worried I have been?" Alya asked. "We were supposed to meet up an hour ago."

"I got distracted. I passed by the graveyard." Nino said as he rubbed his knuckles.

Alya softened a bit. "That I can understand." she said more softly. "But you could have let me know. You don't let anything know, you barely speak as of late. I know you are hurting, but please don't shut us out, don't shut ME out! I'm your girlfriend, I thought you could trust me with anything."

Nino looked into her eyes, anger and hurt present in time. Nino looked down in his lap, tenseness rising inside him. "Have you ever lost a loved one, Alya?" Nino asked.

"Of course I have. My grandparents. And that hurt me, you know." Alya stated. She thought she had already told Nino this at one point...

"And how did that happen?" Nino asked.

"They were sick." Alya replied, not sure what Nino was going to.

"A disease, it is awful, but you cannot blame a disease. Those germs just do what is natural to them. They have no concept of right and wrong. But Latombe...He just...Took my dad, thought he'd make a great experiment and...he didn't have any reason but that my dad was within reach when he decided to abduct people. To him, my dad was a bug that he could crush under his boot..." Nino said.

"Is that a reason to not open up to me? I want to help, Nino." Alya said. "And why do you keep rubbing your knuckles?"

"Nino was actually doing fine after his talk with Marinette, but a poster with Latombe's mug made him punch a wall and made the progress Marinette made void." Wayzz muttered.

"Wayzz!" Nino called out.

"Nino..." Alya said as she grabbed the hand Nino was rubbing, and massages it a bit with his thumbs. "What did you think what would happen?"

"I dunno...I want to just...for a moment was mad and...I just for a moment don't want to feel." Nino stammered.

"One of the biggest flaws of a turtle, they can put barriers around themselves at their lowest points. Turtles bear big burdens, and think they have to bear them alone. But our shells can sometimes feel to small for us." Wayzz continued.

"It means, kid, that you shouldn't close yourself off." Trixx added.

"I understood that, I'm not stupid." Nino said.

"Could have fooled me, because you are hurting my kit and that is pretty stupid." Trixx added.

Nino looked at Alya. "Nino...I know the pain of loss, but it may not be the same type of loss you feel but...Latombe is a madman, and we will take him down. And I hate him too, for what he did to all these people, and that he hurt you. But...I always needed you and your chill kindness to balance out my fiery temper. It makes me wonder why you put up with me at times and...that I have to be the calm one in this is messed up."

"I'm sorry Al...I have not been much of use, have I?" Nino asked.

"Of use? You should not think of yourself like an useful object like a screwdriver! Just...come here, sweetie." Alya said as she pulled Nino in a hug. "I just wish I knew the words that would make you feel better."

"You don't need words for that." Nino assured her. "I'm glad you're here and...sorry if I wasn't all there."

"You are forgiven you lug." Alya muttered in return.

"Well, they're back on the right track. Hope it sticks this time." Trixx noted.

"My hatchling will needs his loved ones more then ever. Because there is more yet to come." Wayzz said sadly.

Toybot scampered through Paris, and drew odd looks. Due to his inconspicuous design people weren't sure what he was and hence no one started to panic. It just moved along, at times took time to assess its surroundings. "Hey, cool costume, but Halloween is still a few weeks away. Or is there a theme part whom lost its mascot?" a bystander asked.

It was a garbageman, whom was busy emptying garbage cans into the garbage truck. Toybot just turned around and looked the man. It received a message from its master. "Make Trouble." It was its cue to show what it could do. It moved towards the Garbageman, grabbed the garbageman from its arms and then crushed it into a small sphere of crumbled metal.

"Holy smoke!" the garbageman said as he ran for it. The other garbage men left the truck as the mechanical mayhem raiser its arm, slamming it into the truck, knocking it to its side with a huge dent in the side. That was basically the sign for the people of Paris to go into full blown panic.

Around the city, all of the Miraculous wielders' phones went off, notifying the Hostile Alert (new name of the Akuma Alert on account there are no more Akumas). Marinette was on her way home from the graveyard as she sighed. "Another day, another one asking to have their ass kicked." she sighed as she went down an alleyway. "Tikki spots on!"

Down in her room at her hotel home, Chloé had put a towel around her hair and around her body, coming fresh out of the shower as her alert went off. "Damnit! Stupid supervillains with their stupid timing." She noted. "Pollen, Buzz on!"

Adrien and Greg were driving along as Adrien received his notification. "Er...you can get the supplies to Fu on your own, duty calls?"

"Go ahead sport, and save the day! Again." Greg said as he briefly stopped long enough to drop off Adrien.

"Ok, see ya Uncle Greg!" as Adrien dove into an alleyway. "Plagg, Claws out!"

Nino and Alya's tender moment was interrupted when the Creature Alert went off. "I guess the city needs us once again, babe." Nino said. I think we found the best way to let loose some frustration."

"After you, sweetie." Alya replied.

"Wayzz, Shell On!"

"Trixx, Let's pounce!"

Toybot continued his rampage through the city. It had lifted a car above his head and threw it through the air, into a building, leaving a gaping hole and some car wreckage. The police was shooting at it from a distance, but the bullets did nothing aside drawing attention to themselves. The robot's head turned 180 degrees towards the officers before the rest of its body followed nad he advanced upon them. "Fall back! Fall back!" the squad's officer said.

"Leave it to us, officers!" Ladybug's voice sounded as they landed in the path of the Toybot, whom stopped in its tracks, as the police officers retreated. The heroes were confused at the sight in front of them.

"Seriously, that's what we are fighting?" Chat Noir asked. "Mr. pigeon looks more frightening then this."

"Well, that smoking wreckage didn't come from out of nowhere, so we best keep our guard up." Ladybug reminded him.

"It's definitely not a creature and clearly a robot. It seems Latombe decided to make the next move." Queen Bee noted. No one missed Carapace gritting his teeth and holding his shield tighter.

Toybot stood there, unmoving. "Er...is it going to do something?" Rena Rouge asked.

To that, the Toybot responded by opening up its chest panel, revealing a monitor screen, which went from static to clear screen, showing the smirking face of the psychopath himself. "Latombe..." Carapace growled.

"Hello, Miraculous team. Finally glad to meet you face to face...matter of speaking of course." Latombe said. "I have been wanting to say this for a long time...love the outfits."

"Well, it shows that we are better at designing then you are. Your robot looks ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. And there hasn't been a more appropriate time to use that term." Queen Bee snarled.

"Maybe, but this ridiculous thing is going to kick your collective posteriors. Though it doesn't have to be that way. By now the old man must have told you about me? Unless he is keeping secrets again." Latombe taunted.

"He told us about you, all right! You are a traitor and a murderer, plain and simple." Ladybug said as she swung her yo-yo by her side in a circle. "He also told us about his past mistake to ever trust you as a successor."

"Oh, I am genuinely surprised. He was always so insistent on secrets. Thought he'd take his secrets to the grave or something. So, he picked the lots of you as guardians. Must be otherwise he wouldn't part with that old shellhead Wayzz." Latombe said.

"Don't talk about Wayzz, don't talk about our master, don't talk about anything! You don't have a right to anything! You damn dirty murderer!" Carapace shouted.

"I won't deny that. But man, you are on edge today. What got you so worked up? Forgot to study for a test? Bully making your life hard?" Latombe asked.

"You killed my father!" Carapace shouted.

Latombe looked genuinely confused. "Kid, do you know how little that narrows it down for me?" Carapace didn't reply and just charged at Toybot with his shield raised, whom just backhanded him and sent him flying back. "Oh, you are so pathetic it is adorable."

Carapace was helped back up by Rena, whom was at the same time shouting at Latombe: "Look who's pathetic, you get off form kidnapping, torturing and killing people. You threw a tantrum on how you felt life was unfair so you started cutting others' short."

"The old man ruined my life, he made me what I am!" Latombe shot back.

"And those innocent people you killed, did they ruin your life too? Stop making excuses. Mistakes were made, but it doesn't excuse what you've done." Ladybug said as she pointed angrily at Latombe.

"Innocent people do not exist, kid. When you grow up, you will learn that the hard way. Granted you survive the culling I have in mind." Latombe replied.

"Oh, you want a culling? Let's start with you when I shove my Cataclysm into your face!" Chat said as he raised his clawed hand menacingly.

"Your predecessor already did that once. Though he only scratched me." Latombe said as he pointed at his scar. "But you kids start to bore me with your idealistic sunshine and rainbows ideology. I came here for an experiment, and I want to get to it. Today's experiment: how much beating can you take from my creation?"

"I got a different experiment: What if we put your toy out of commission, we find out where you life and shove the thing right up your arse?" Queen Bee asked.

"Oh, you are a feisty one. Let's see if we can knock it out of you. Toybot, Attack Mode!" Latombe said as the eyes of the mechanical menace glowed and snapped its claws fiercely.

Carapace was recovering from the blow it had received and the cobwebs had cleared his head. Right now in front of him he saw the creation of the man he hated, the hated man's face adorned on the screen on its chest. He spun his shield around, as it glowed green and a buzzsaw sound could be heard. "I am going to f***ing destroy you." he muttered.

The Toybot then shot towards our heroes, whom also charged towards him. The fight was on.

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New episode is here.
> 
> Latombe sends out his newest invention. It is deliberately made to both mock and counter our heroes.
> 
> Nino and Marinette are learning to deal with the shock of the last few interludes. Marinette throws herself in work but is held back so she doesn't overdo it again. And Nino...well, he can only be chill for os much until something thaws and burns. 
> 
> Now, I'm not bringing in the full hero set for each chapter unless all are needed. Just the main team and a select few each other chapter, so it is better to juggle everything.


	9. Toybot Part II

Max was dialing away at his computer madly. Ever since that Latombe guy showed up, he had been trying to decode the signal. Due to a randomizing algorithm, he couldn't trace its source, but it helped to rewatch it from different angles, to refresh his mind or trying to see something he missed. Though in the end he wouldn't get any closer, he felt like he needed to do something.

Luckily he wasn't on his own. "I am grateful you trust me with this, Max. Though I must say I am not sure if I'm good enough to help with this." Sabrina said as she looked over his shoulder. "I am not nearly as good with computers as you, and what I excel at was to help coordinate."

"I heard you managed to hack once." Max noted.

"It wasn't as impressive as it sounds. Either a sub-par system or my dad's computer and he is not exactly the best either." Sabrina said. She allowed herself to look over at Barrk, whom was chattering to Kaalki, whom was trying to merely enjoy her beauty sleep but the energetic dog kwami just wouldn't let her.

"But you have a keen eye and a good head on your shoulders." Max said. "And out of all our teammates, I believe that statistically you are the best help, aside form Markov, in this endeavor."

"Why is your body heat rising and hormone production increasing when you proclaim this?" Markov asked Max.

"Markov, ix-nay on the ersonal-pay, uff-stay." Max said as he gestured at the little robot.

"Why do you choose to express yourself in Pig's Latin?" Markov asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Er...Sabrina, you have an idea to perhaps use your Miraculous' powers to track him?" Max asked nervously.

"I need to tag a target before I can trace it. And he hasn't appeared in person." Sabrina said, looking pensive and forgetting Max's weird outburst. "Barkk, can your sense of smell help?"

Barkk turned away from Kaalki (Kaalki would praise the heavens) as he explained: "I'm good at sniffing, but I haven't caught a whiff of his scent. And what was left of that drone? It now smells all like snail dragon goop so I wasn't able to get anything from that. Sorry."

"It's ok, next time Latombe sends something out we'll let you take a good whiff. That's at least two leads we'll be able to follow." Sabrina said.

"You hear that, Kaalki! I'll be helping!" Barkk said excitedly.

"Very good for you." Kaalki muttered dryly.

"You smell like sugar. I wanna lick you!" Barkk said. Kaalki was grateful that she was the Kwami of transportation, because she wanted to fly the heck out of there.

At that point an alert went off on Max' computer. "There is an emergency downtown." Max stated as he brought up footage. He saw the Miraculous team engaging the Toybot. "And that is clearly an artificial construct so it is safe to assume it is Latombe."

"Then why are we still standing around here for? Let's transform!" Sabrina said. "Barkk, here boy!" Kaalki sighed in relief, as she was cornered earlier and was holding off Barkk with her paws and he was sucked in Sabrina's collar for the transformation.

"Kaalki, Full Gallop!" Max said as Kaalki was sucked into his glasses and transformed him.

Laika jumped on Pegasus' back. "Now mush!"

"It's not because I have a horse theme that you have to use horse terms all the time." Pegasus scoffed. He then felt something warm and soft in the back of his neck and realized Sabrina puberty was catching up with Sabrina. "Stupid puberty." he thought to himself as he found himself blushing with her breasts pressed against his neck.

"I see the hormone production and body temperature has increased even more..." Markov noted.

"Why don't you hold the fort while we go on, ok bye!" Pegasus said.

"Hey, I'm not readyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" Laika said as she soon felt the wind in her hair with Pegasus' fast movements.

Ladybug shot forward, her yo-yo at the ready and throwing it at Toybot. The thing moved much faster then anyone expected as he held out one of his crude cartoony claw arms and caught the yo-yo mid-air. His hands spins around, wrapping the wire of the yo-yo around him and pulling Ladybug in. When Ladybug was close enough the clamp claw hit her in the face and sent her flying.

"Bugaboo! You'll pay for it, you tin can!" Chat Noir lashed with his baton, but the robot held out its forearms to block all blow. Chat's baton then was caught at the tip. However, he was able to split his baton in half, and with the second half in hand, the first half still held by the robot, he tried to lash, only to be grabbed by the waist, as the thing spins his upper body around wildly, Chat along for the ride, until he was thrown through a wall of a building.

"Hi-Ya!" Rena jumped in and launched a few kicks mid-air, only for the robot to block with his forearms. He held out his arm and it shot forward, but she jumped up and landed on the arm, ready to strike a blow to its head. But its head turned to her fired lasers at her. Rena was sent flying back. Smoke came from her chest, and she was lucky her Miraculous suit absorbed most damage. "Oh come on! It has lasers?" she moaned.

Queen Bee flew up and swooped down, ready to strike Toybot, whom merely sidestepped. She didn't crash, instead pulling up and looking from above. She had to assess the situation. At least at this altitude, he couldn't reach her. Or so she thought as she felt something grap around her leg, the robot had stretched its arm to great lengths to grab her. Queen Bee let out a resigned sigh. "Of course..." before she was pulled in and smacked into the ground.

Finally Carapace moved in. He threw his shield, a buzzsaw sound could be heard as it was thrown, but the robot held out its clamp claw hand, and it began spinning rapidly. Sparks flew off as the spinning claw and buzzing shield clashed, before the shield shot back in Carapace's direction. He caught it again and rushed at Toybot, striking him with his shield, but he kept blocking them with its arms. He kept wailing, even when it clearly didn't work.

"The others at least put thought in their moves, you are just doing the same attack over and over." Latombe mocked, his face on the monitor in Toybot's chest looking bored. He even was putting some greasy chili cheese fries in his mouth. And it was seriously ticking off Carapace. He wasn't taken seriously. He lashed out even harder, but he was still easily blocked. "You're only embarrassing yourself, kid!" Latombe said. The Toybot's eyes glowed and fired lasers at Carapace. He was lucky to have his shield to absorb the blow, only it didn't prevent him to be flung across the street.

Rena moved over to help her boyfriend up. "You okay?"

"I am not!" Carapace snapped. "We are getting creamed by an oversized toy!"

"Funny isn't it? Can you believe I made this thing on a budget?" Latombe mocked as he took a bite of a fried chicken leg. "But by all means, if you think it makes you feel better, try your luck some more. I don't have cable you see, and I need a good show."

"I'll give you a good show, in your face!" Carapace said as he got up, and rushed forward. He threw his shield, but it was caught by the Toybot, before he grabbed Carapace, slammed him into the ground, before slamming his own shield into him.

"Really, does the kid have a death wish?" Latombe asked. "He did say I killed his father, so I'll make sure they'll reunite." Toybot lifted its leg to stomp on Carapace, but Carapace was wrapped up in Ladybug's yo-yo and dragged out of the way.

"All right, the thing seems to have an idea on how we fight, but he is just one and we are a team, so let's see if he can handle our team attacks!" Ladybug said. "And Carapace, please keep your temper in check. I want to destroy him as much as you but...we cannot allow to fall, otherwise HE has free gain."

Carapace gritted his teeth but he stood up and ready to follow Ladybug's lead. They charged in, Toybot eyeing them carefully. "Delta maneuver!" Ladybug said as Carapace held his shield above him. Ladybug intending to jump on top to kick off for her next attack. However, the Toybot fired lasers at Ladybug before she could jump up. Carapace turned around quickly to see Ladybug tumble onto the ground before the Toyboy stretched its arm to launch a long distance punch.

"Queenie, the Kitty-Bee dropkick!" Chat said, hoping their moves would do better. Queen Be nodded as she used her trompo to wrap around Chat, he spins him around and throws him at the Toybot, hoping to use the boost to be able to attack him. However, Toybot plucked him out of the air and threw him into Queen Bee. Both crashed into the ground.

"He knows our combo moves too?" Rena Rouge asked. "All right, time to stop playing around. Mirage!" Rena put her flute to her lips. With a little melody, there were suddenly a hundred Rena Rouges. All of them charged in.

The Toybot didn't seem impressed. He turned his head in a certain direction and fired eye lasers, hitting the real Rena and knocking her down, making her illusions fade. Latombe chuckled. "Silly girl, this robot isn't fooled by mind tricks. Didn't you figure anything out? This robot knows all your moves before you make them. It is specifically made to counter all of you! I did my homework. Gave myself an A+ for it."

The Toybot snapped its claws menacingly as it was ready to strike again. However, a blur went by the robot, whom began spinning rapidly due to the speed the blur streaked by. He managed to stop spinning, but his head went on for a few more moments before it clamped his hands on his head to make it stop. As it stumbled, it suddenly landed with its foot on something and fell on its back. A ball rolled form under it, and headed back into the direction of its owner. With Pegasus coming to a standstill and Laika picking up her weapon. "Are we in time for the party?" Pegasus asked.

"Latombe really built that?" Laika said as she turned her head to eye Toybot.

"Don't let the looks fool you. It is programmed to know all our moves." Ladybug said.

"Really? Well, as a man of science, I'd like to test that theory for myself." Pegasus said as he rushed into the direction of the Toybot. Though he had caught the big robot off-guard earlier, the robot was ready this time. Pegasus came in from different angles, trying to launch a punch or kick or throw his horseshoe, but the robot always manages to react quickly, blocking with his arms at every turn. After a failed blow, he tried to run off but he was caught by his leg in one of Toybot's claws. "Good reflexes..." Pegasus said before he was thrown through a wall.

Laika threw her ball weapon, bouncing it off various angles, but the robot seemed to calculate from which angle the ball would bounce and just avoid it by side-stepping. After that failed Laika decided to stop the ball throwing and went for a more direct approach. She just swerved around like an excited puppy in the hopes that the robot wouldn't be able to keep up with her erratic movements. She thought she was about to succeed when she tried to get him in the back, but Toybot's head turned around 180 degrees and shot her with his laser eyes. She was sent flying back, but she was caught in time by Pegasus. "You ok?" he asked.

"Could have been better. Bless these durable supersuits. But that thing is tough." Laika said. She blinked a few times. "Er, you can put me down now?"

"Oh, right! Sorry." Pegasus said as he did just that.

"I am eating over here, you are making me lose my lunch!" Latombe growled form inside the monitor on Toybot's chest. "But since you're here, would you please allow to get your butts kicked for science some more, I'd be most grateful."

"That's what we have been putting up with since the fight begun." Chat noted.

"It knows what we can do...but earlier you got the drop on it, so we know that it can't focus on all of us at once. Ok, everyone, divide and conquer!" Ladybug noted. With that they rushed back into the fight.

"Oh, they are gluttons for punishment. Luckily for them, I got plenty to go around." Latombe muttered.

Ladybug and Chat closed in from two sides. Jumping and kicking off the walls, the Toybot stretched out its arms, pinning the two against a wall each. Carapace came in from behind, shield raised, but the robot turned it head and fired lasers. Luckily Carapace was fully aware of its capabilities this time, holding out his shield and bracing, trying his best to power through it. Queen Bee and Rena came in from one side, as were Laika and Pegasus form another.

The Robot, still trying to pin down Carapace with its lasers swung the arms around with Chat and Ladybug still in it. However, as Ladybug was flung into Queen Bee, she grabbed on instead of being knocked down. Ladybug unfolded her own wings and they started tugging at the arms. As the other arm with Chat in it was flung at Pegasus, he caught it too and the two started tugging at the other arm. Now he was left open.

Laika barged in, but the Toybot had another trick up its sleeve. Its chest opened up and it launched several missiles, and Laika had to leap back to avoid the exploding projectiles. Rena Rouge leaped in to strike with her flute as suddenly the wind up key on the robot's back disconnected and flew in to block the attack. It then started to clash with Rena's flute, like an invisible swordsman was using it.

But Carapace managed to power through the lasers to get close. "Shellter!" he said as he raised his hand, and a green film was projected over its chest, preventing more missiles from launching. Laika regained her ground and threw her ball at the robot's head, sending it spinning violently, as it no longer produced lasers. Finally, both the arms, still being tugged at, now were struggling less now the robots head and its CPU was unfocused and the two heroes wrapped him up in his own arms, managing to also get the floating key trapped in it..

"Nice try, doc. But it ends here." Chat said as he raised his hand. "Cataclysm."

"Would you mind not to destroy it too badly? Just enough to disable it? I would like a chance to study it." Pegasus asked. Chat felt like he could do that.

"Oh, you were really clever just earlier, but I am not done yet. Toybot, Overclock!" Latombe said. The robot then started to vibrate violently, becoming red hot and steaming. Everyone knew it wasn't good. Chat wanted to throw caution out of the window and charge in. But not fast enough. The robot broke free, and now lasers, missiles, the flying key and its stretchy arms lashing out all around it erratically, hitting the heroes and laying waste to the buildings around them at random. They were knocked down to the ground. Chat got flung into a mailbox and had accidentally released his Cataclysm on it.

"Your plan had merit. I mean it, pretty clever. I give you an A for effort, though the execution..." Latombe said as he waved his hand tilted. "It was a good try though. You did better then most whom went against me. Last group whom tried to charge one of my inventions like that, had one whom was crippled."

Carapace gritted his teeth and he breathed heavily. No, they were so close. "Shut up! Stop talking about people like that you monster! Stop talking about their hurt and pain like it is a game. Because it isn't. You shouldn't be enjoying people's suffering." He charged in and lashed at the robot with a shield. Like last time though, he wasn't doing any good as the robot avoided or blocked his blows.

"Oh, you clearly would like to see me and everything I create suffer, do you?" Latombe taunted.

"I am not like you! I don't hurt innocent people." Carapace said as he continued his futile onslaught.

"Kid, let me learn you a life lesson. No one is innocent." Latombe said as the Toybot seemed to have enough of blocking attacks and fired its missiles off. Shielding himself in time, Carapace was nonetheless blasted back. "You would like to see me going down, me in pain. Its understandable. It is part of human nature. We suppress these dark impulses but we have them. But they are part of us, they can't be fought. So I stopped doing it."

Carapace didn't speak up further, he was too angry to continue speaking. However, before he could charge in again, he was held back by Queen Bee's trompo. "Sorry for doing this, shellhead, but we can't let you go Leroy Jenkins again."

"Fallback and regroup! Pegasus cover us!" Ladybug said.

"Horsepower!" Pegasus said as he began rapidly in place, kicking up a dust cloud that obscured the vision of the Toybot. When it died down the heroes were gone.

Latombe just chuckled. "You can run, but you can't hide." Latombe, in his lab was dancing behind his desk. "yes, that is what I call a successful test run, I got them cowering and sent them running. Next time they charge in with a half-brained scheme, I'll crush them!" he said as he locked his hands to symbolize the crushing part.

"You haven't won yet." Mahamayuri said.

"Matter of time. Come on, be happy, live a little." Latombe said. Mahamayuri just glared at him. "Oh, I forgot, you hate fun! Oh well, I'll enjoy the moment for the both of us. And I'll enjoy the fall of the heroes of Paris twice as much as well." Latombe said as he sat down in his chair behind his monitor, with another burger in his hand.

The heroes managed to retreat and hide out in an alleyway. "Let me go! I want to cave his face in. You..." Carapace was still hot-blooded and angry. "Why did you had to gt in the way? Why did you had us run away?"

"We needed to fall back and rethink our plans of attack. Most importantly we need you to cool down before you got compromised." Ladybug said.

"You know how worried you made us by barging out there? We expect something like that from Chat....no offense." Rena Rouge said.

"None taken. I have been quite reckless in the past." Chat added.

"Anyhow, of all the bull-headed...we were thrown around and you got pummeled the worst because you leapt in as a raging animal. We can take a lot of punishment but we are not invincible!" Rena Rouge continued. "I thought we had a good talk earlier but it seems that went don one ear and went out the other."

"You did hear him right? How he talked about...all these people, how he hurts and kills...he didn't seem to think anything of it. Like it was right to do so. What he did to my dad..." Carapace said as he seemed to break a little as his eyes went moist.

"I know it is hard. I cared for him too. And...maybe I would have snapped too if the fight had gone on too long. Because I am mad at the words of Latombe as well." Ladybug said. "He was maybe right about us all having dark impulses. We are human after all. But the rest of what he says...that is utter bullcrap. For a so called genius, Latombe doesn't understand anything."

"Latombe thinks that the wold we live in is cruel and harsh. And that one has to be cruel and harsh to thrive. And he wants to force others to think like that too, to see the world like he does. But Latombe is a man whom has nothing. He doesn't understand love, friendship, or simple joys of living itself. He is...actually pathetic. And now that I realize him...I do not like him but I feel like he isn't worth hatred. He is a man with nothing to lose, while we are people that had a lot to fight for.

"When I found out about Gabriel, I came really close too, you know?" Chat asked. "I had this urge to see him suffer. I would be the one doing it, I would be the one to enjoy it. If I had done that...well, I'd have truly been the son of Hawkmoth. When we first confronted him head-on, I almost messed up too. Got emotional, almost handing him the win. But when I started to fight with my Lady again, and for our sake, we pulled through."

"And I don't think I have to explain myself." Queen Bee said. "We all know how I crawled back out of th abyss.

Anger had completely left Carapace. He now sighed and looked defeated. "I am sorry guys. I...there are so many whom have suffered at that monster's hand but I made it all about me and my pain. But the hurt...I let it consume me. I almost botched our mission, I forgot I was a hero for that moment. I turned myself in a liability."

"You are not a liability. Not to use." Rena said as she hugged her boyfriend. "And your hurt is valid. But you know when it blinds you."

"I don't want to be blinded." Carapace said as he returned the hug. Rena still in his arms, he turned to the others. "I'm sorry...I got the message. I'll not let him get to me again. I could not bear to disappoint all of you."

"You are no disappointment. Not by a long shot. You are our friend, our brother." Chat said, putting a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Come on guys, let's give him a group hug."

"I am really no the touchy-feely type." Pegasus said before Laika dragged him along.

"Just shut up and join the cuddle pile." Laika said as they joined in the group hug.

"This actually feels rather nice." Pegasus said.

"It does, doesn't it?" Carapace let out a sort of laugh/sigh. "I really have been a mess, am I?"

"Just forget, Latombe is alone. You always have us. And it is not like Uncle Enzo has truly left us, has he? You remember him still? You still feel him here?" Ladybug said, poking him in the chest where his heart is.

"Thank you,all of you, I don't know what I would do without you." Carapace said as he let his tears flow again.

"Let's not figure that out. We wouldn't now what we'd do without our brother." Chat said. "We are just returning a favor, because you were always the chill bro of the team, our heart. We don't want that to be taken from us."

"Next time I see that Toys 'R Us bargain bin reject, I'm going to strike it down, but not for anger and revenge. I'll do it right." Carapace promises them.

Well, glad we got that out of our system, but we still don't know how to deal with that walking junkheap." Queen Bee reminded them. "And we could use a good idea about now."

"Mh...Well, I guess it is about as good a time as any." Ladybug said as she threw her yo-yo up. "Lucky Charm!" in a flash of light, a pendant appeared. "Oh, another really cryptic one."

"Is it one of Fu's items again? Do we need to contact him?" Chat asked. "But he doesn't have a Miraculous aside from Nooroo and Duusu and they aren't healed yet."

"I don't think Fu had a pendant like this before..." Ladybug said. She had a good memory, so she'd know.

"What are those symbols on it? " Pegasus asked.

"Does anyone else see the ring components on it?" Laika asked.

"Oh, you're right! It is segmented in rings." Ladybug said as she turned parts of them around. "It is a ring-based slide puzzle, so if I arrange them like this..." Ladybug said as she quickly shifted it around. "Oh?"

Chat looked over her shoulders. "Arrows? What does that mean? Do we turn back time? Do we need Bunnix?"

"Her control over time still has to advance to that stage." Pegasus noted. "And while reinforcements doesn't seem like a bad idea..."

"The machine may know their moves too. Strength in numbers may be mere brute force and we know that brute force didn't get us anywhere up to this point." Ladybug said.

"So, if you could interpret this cryptic Lucky Charm of yours it would be really helpful." Queen Bee noted.

"It is the nature of this pendant. The arrows, the puzzle...symbolism for shifting, or..." Ladybug's eyes went wide.

"I know that look. She figured it out." Chat said happily.

"I have...And it is not without risk because we haven't practiced as much as we could. And we'll need absolute trust among ourselves." Ladybug said.

"That should be no problem. We already trust each other with our lives? What else could we trust each other with."

Ladybug paused for a moment. "Our Miraculous."

TO BE CONTINUED


	10. Toybot Part III

Toybot was wandering the streets of Paris, looking for the heroes whom it had sent running earlier. "Oh Miraculers, come out and play!" Latombe mocked over the monitor in the thing's chest. "I thought all kids liked action toys." Latombe snickered. It was then that a sound was heard behind the Toybot, which by instinct turned around and lashed by stretching out its arm. Only to find it to have slammed into a garbage can that was knocked over. It heard some more rustling and turned its head and fired lasers. It was only a pigeon and it barely avoided being fried. "My trigger finger is a bit itchy. I hope the heroes stop hiding soon or some innocent bystander may get hurt."

Latombe tapped with his fingers against the desk. He knew these heroes. They wouldn't remain hidden. It was a matter of time before they tried their next futile technique and his creation would deal with them properly. At least that's what he thought. Toybot found itself being hit in the back, stumbling forward as it soon regained its bearings and turned around. "Ah, look whom finally decided to show themselves." Latombe could make out a blur of black.

Chat Noir. Perfect. Toybot's stretchy arms and lasers aimed at the black cat hero. It would know its movements and patterns and would be easily able to cut him off even if he tried to dodge. However, when he fired or lashed...the cat didn't move according to his calculations. The feline brat was mostly moving like a cat playing, bouncing around, with a bit of edginess for lethal strikes. But this time...Oddly enough the hero in black seemed to be moving that looked like was stumbling but a the same time there were some weird acrobatics involved. It was an odd blend.

"You got some new dance moves, but we are still dancing to the same tune, my victory march!" Latombe said as he ordered his machine to remain on the offensive. The Black Cat baton weapon was thrown at Toybot, which backhanded it and it embedded into a nearby wall. Toybot stretched out both its arms and tried to get grabby, but the cat hero jumped up. Toybot fired lasers in the air at Chat, whom spins in the air to avoid and delivers a flying kick to Toybot's face, whom stumbled back...before being pushed in the side of a building. The baton that was embedded in the wall had stretched itself and had hit Toybot.

"I think it is about time the toy gets recalled." the voice came from the black cat hero, but it was not the voice Latombe was familiar with. Instead it was a voice from someone else. Only now Latombe noted the blue hair tied in a long tail-like braid. He now realized that it was Ladybug, now wearing the Black Cat Miraculous. She had removed her baton from the wall and now held it over her shoulder. "Whats up Latombe? Cat got your tongue?"

Latombe blinked. "Ladybug?" he asked, not able to believe it.

"It's Lady Noire now. I thought I tried a new look. What do you think, the suit's a purr-fect fit?" the Black Cat version of Marinette introduced herself. "And I'm not the only one whom tried out some different types of fashion."

"And now for the return of an old fav!" another voice said as something on a string shot out and hit Toybot. Adrien stood there again, wearing the Ladybug Earrings in his Scarlet Bug guise, for the first time since they deal with Style Queen. "You'll find our history is far from spotty..."

"What the...you swapped Miraculous?" Latombe asked.

"Oh so you noticed?" Scarlet Bug said sarcastically. "Whoa, we got a real genius here." Scarlet Bug spins the yo-yo around and lashed with it. When Ladybug used it, she uses precision strikes, trying to hit or find a weak spot. But Scarlet Bug's is like a whip, he lashes violently with it. And so the Toybot, instead of being able to avoid or block, is pelted by the yo-yo swings, one hitting him in the head and making his heads pin around.

As the Toybot stumbled, it was hit in the leg and tripped by a familiar green shield. It bounced back to its owner, or at least its temporary owner. Now Alya stood there in shades of Green. Best her costume could be explained is a genderbent Captain America with a Turtle theme. She now had goggles instead of her usual domino mask. "Have no fear, Olive Ridley is here!"

Toybot opened its chest and fired missiles. Olive Ridley spins her shield in front of her deflecting the missiles int he air, where they exploded harmlessly. When that failed Toybot reached out with its retractable arms, but she grabbed both arms in her own. She made the shield spin, put it on the arm, and it raced across the arm like a wheel on a racetrack, before whacking the robot in the face.

Toybot shook its head before it was stepped on, the owner of the foot kicking and landing in front of him. Nino in some fox-inspired gear. It had an orange sleeveless jacket with a collar that covered his mouth. He had baggy pants and knee-high boots with fox paw patterns. The fox tail lazily hung form the back of his belt. He had bandages wrapped around his upper arms and orange and white biker gloves, though those couldn't be seen due to having put his hands in the pockets of his jacket. He had a domino mask, and a pair of headphones with speakers on top that resembled fox ears, not unlike those 'cat ear' headphones. "Urban Fox is on the prowl!" he muttered softly.

"You look ridiculous." Latombe said bored. "Get him!" Toybot charged in. While Nino as Carapace sometimes used dance moves in combat...as Urban Fox he was way more agile and could use these types of moves more freely. So when he agilely danced out of the way dodged the Toybot, it started to get on Latombe's nerves. "Stand still!"

"Can do, I got the music in me!" Urban Fox said as he jumped up, did a spin mid air as he pulled out the flute and whacked Toybot in the face, as it stumbled back.

Before it could regain its bearing an amber brown blur. It had the speed of the Horse Miraculous, but the one using it was way more heads on as it didn't give the robot time to react properly. It zipped around him delivering rapid kicks at any good spot it could plant its boots. The new Horse wielder kicked off the ground and in mid-air launched a series of rapid mid-air kicks to the robot's face. The last kick knocked it on its back. As it got up it finally could take a good look at its attacker.

She flipped her blonde ponytail. She had a brown bodysuit, with a short sleeved jacket of a different brown shade over it. The glasses had taken on a more fashionable shape, and part of the bodysuit were glove and suit parts of a darker brown color. A horse tail also hung from a belt-like accessorize. "You thought Queen Bee had a bad sting, well Carolina has a mean kick, Darling!" Chloé introduced herself in her new form.

"Don't you mind if I butt in?" Max came in, now wearing the Dog Miraculous around his neck. His Miraculous outfit looked unusually sporty for someone like him. Though Latombe couldn't tell which sport the outfit belonged to. He had his hands behind his beck, like he tired to make himself look tall. He still had the dreads, but they were of a darker color, the dog ears stuck out from on top of his head and instead of glasses he had a domino mask. "Border Collie, at your service."

"Give it to me, you mutt!" Latombe growled. Border Collie's hands came from behind his back and on one of his hands was a huge baseball glove, with a dog paw pattern. The ball weapon also looked more like a baseball. He put the finger of his free hand in his mouth and then int he air, as if to check the wind direction. He then appeared to make some calculations in his head. And then with a good throw, the ball shot towards Toybot. He aimed with his eye lasers but the ball was a curve ball, the lasers missed and the robot was hit in the forehead.

Toybot shook its head after it received its previous blow and steadied itself. It turned on to the heroes again. Latombe wondered which is the next hero to blindside him again. However he didn't expect for music to as a young girl in black and yellow came in. Its uniform was similar to a cheerleader, even carrying two yellow and black pom-poms, her hair in pigtails and of course the standard domino mask. "Look at me, Honeybee, cheering on my friends to victory. M-I-R-A-C-U-L- O-U-S, goooooooooooooo Miraculous!" she chanted and danced, waving her pom-poms.

"One, two, three, four! You'll drop down dead on the floor!" Latombe rebutted as Toybot stretched out his arms and grabbed at her. However, she danced out of the way, doing some impressive flips in the process.

"Dumb Latombe, he can't win! Now he tastes Honey's Sting!" She chants as she thrusts her arm with one of the pom-poms forward, the trompo weapon shooting out of it and hitting Toybot. "Sting! Sting! Sting!" She alternated between thrusting her left and right arm, the trompo shooting out, retracting and shooting out again when she altered hands. It resulted in a series of rapid jabs that pushed Toybot back and dented him.

"Good one, Honey!" Carolina said as she gave her friend a thumbs up.

Border Collie looked at Sabrina's new Bee-inspired cheerleader outfit. It made her look hot. He blinked a few times before he let out a howl. Be quickly put his hands on his mouth as everyone looked at him in confusion. "Pardon me, not used to the side effects of this particular Miraculous."

All attention was luckily taken from the temporary dog wielder as Toybot got up again as an angry looking Latombe looked from behind his screen. "You caught me off guard, but I'm onto you. I just have to synchronize the footage of the current battle with Toybot's CPU..." Latombe said as Toybot's eyes blinked and the monitor now displayed a screen of zeroes and ones, more data.

"BC, smoke cover! Everyone, changez!" Lady Noire said.

Border Collie took out a small pellet and threw it to the ground. A smokescreen flared up. There were some colorful flashes, some moments pause and more colorful flashes. The smoke cleared and now everyone stood in different gear again.

Marinette once again had the Turtle, for the first time since Queen Wasp. "Malachite!" she introduced herself.

Nino was also back in a familiar form he had used last time in an emergency. "Nightprowler!"

Chloé now wore the red and black with the Ladybug. Almost all her bodysuit was black, only with red boots with black spots. Over her bodysuit she wore a red jacket with sleeves that came up to her elbows, and in the back split at the end like a pair of ladybug wings. Scarlet Lady!" she said softly.

Alya now had a new form with the Horse Miraculous. A brown leather bomber jacket with a furry collar, a white horse tail hanging from her belt, brown leather gloves, brown boots with horseshoe patterns, her wavy hair in a ponytail and two horse ears spouting from her head. "Amber Beauty!"

Adrien now had the Dog. The irony wasn't lost on him. It was still a leather bodysuit he wore, though it had more of a blonde, brown coloring. A fluffy tail that wagged and floppy ears on top of his head. He had the ball in his mouth and removed it briefly, tossing it up and down in his hand. "Updog!"

Max had the bee. Unlike when Queen Bee worse it, the bodysuit was merely and undersuit in all black, while the yellow and color came from armored parts around the chest, shoulders forearms and lower legs, with the trompo integrated int he arm armor, and sporting a helmet with antenna and a yellow visor over his eyes. The yellow was mixed in with some metallic green. "A-Metal."

Finally, Sabrina had the fox. Her outfit looked like a female spy outfit, only with an added fox tail and the fox ears on top of her head. She worse some shades over her eyes that were tinted brownish red. The orange was a darker orange head on her suit and her hair now was in a bobcut, her hair a darker red. "Red Fox!"

"What?" Latombe's eyes went wide. "No, I'm not done processing..." Latombe said. He honestly was baffled the heroes were wiling to trade the Miraculous so easily.

"Too late!" Amber Beauty shot forward dodging the retractable claw hands with her maneuvers, whom were more zig-zagged then either Carolina's or Pegasus' movements. She grabbed the horseshoe weapons and used them to pin the arms to the ground when she saw an opening. She then shot towards Toybot, delivered a few rapid kicks, stood on his shoulders and then began spinning around quickly. Then she shot up and shot down, stomping her foot down on the robot's head, whom shook. His arms came loose form where the horseshoes pinned it down the weapons coming loose and being thrown in the air, but Amber Beauty caught them and threw them into Toybot before they bounced back and she caught them in her hands again.

"Play!" Updog said as he put his ball between his fangs, dodging the laser fire by hopping around like an excited puppy, going under between Toybot's legs, grabbing them and knocking him on his face. He then jumped on the back. "Isn't this fun? Isn't this fun? Isn't this fun?"

Toybot turned around and grabbed Updog and held him in a vicegrip. Latombe eyed him angrily. "I had it up to here with you and your friends..." (squeak), "Cheap tricks whom will buy you only..." (squeak) '...more time but in the end I will..." (squeak) "Will you stop that?"

The entire time Updog has been trolling Latombe by squeaking using hte ball in his mouth. He spat it out in Toybot's face, distracting him enough to squirm out of his grasp and kick him back. "That does it you mutt! By the way, your name sucks. I mean, what even is Updog?"

"The sky!" Updog answered before he laughed.

"Of course." Latombe said somberly. "Laugh while you can, because I will have the last one!" Toybot raised its claw, ready to bring it down on Updog. However, it hit a solid surface, courtesy of Malachite, her head held high, her shield hat taking the blow. Latombe wouldn't let up and ordered Toybot to fire several missiles. Malachite took of her hate and scooped up the missiles before throwing them back at Toybot, whom was blown aback by his own attack, sent into the air.

Nightprowler positioned himself under where Toybot was about to land, landed on his head to do a breakdance spin while holding the baton with his feet. As Toybot landed on it, he was being juggled on top of the spinning cat hero. "Stabilize yourself, you junkheap!" Latombe said as he pushed buttons on his keyboard. The world was spinning on his monitor. "This is going to give me motion sickness."

Nightprowler bounced Toybot upwards as he got back to his feet, stopped spinning and instead whacked Toybot by extending his baton, out of the air, and onto the ground. Toybot got up but was confronted by A-Metal. He fired the trompo from his wrist like grappling hook. He fired it in the back of Toybot.

Toybot detached the key from its back, deploying like a drone. Its attention was drawn when Scarlet Lady wrapped her yo-yo around it and pulled it away. This gave A-Metal another opening to attack. He jumped up, and transformed the trompo in its gauntlet form. Toybot fired lasers in the air, expecting an aerial attack. However, A-Metal instead shot down and burrowed into the ground using the gauntlet like a drill. He then shot back up from the ground.

At the same time Scarlet Lady was wrangling the giant key. At first she used a few predictable swipes with the yo-yo, which the key dodged before shooting forward. Then, Scarlet Lady wrapped the wring of the yo-yo around her hands and then when the flying key came close enough she wrapped it around the key, jumped on top and rode it as a hoverboard, using the string as reigns for the mechanical flying steed.

Red Fox rushed in towards Toybot, whom grabbed at her with his claws, but she jumped over it, swings around the arm before propelling herself upwards and landing on its head. Another of his clawed arms grabbed at her but she did a handstand, caught the claw in between her legs, then dropped backwards to behind Toybot, and while not exactly tied up, he was boundby his own arm. "Let go, you fake fox!" Latombe said.

"As you wish!" Red Fox said as she let go, but the whiplash from trying to retract the arm made Toybot stumble, before it was run down by something. Knocked on its back by its own flying key, which Scarlet Lady had steered into him.

Toybot was now sparking and stumbling. "Come on you piece of junk! Adapt!" Latombe was rapidly dialing away at his console. It was then that his console started sparking as an error message appeared on his screen. Latombe growled and raised his fist but he stopped himself. "No, I am an intelligent human being with several doctorates and PhD's. I am not going to give in to my anger and smash things like a Neanderthal." as he sat down again.

"Going great, everyone. One more!" Malachite said. Another smoke bomb was thrown and from behind the mist there were more colorful flashes of light.

"Stop playing Musical Miraculouses! Do any of you have any respect for the relics? They shouldn't be passed around like that!" Latombe growled at them.

"We respect the Miraculouses. But we also respect the people whom wear them. We are a team and we trust each other." the voice of Marinette sounded, but as the smoke cleared she now stood there in and amber and white Qipao suit, her hair in a bun, with a wolf-like ears and a tail, in addition to a pair of long clawed gloves and boots. With the Dog Miraculous she was Langren.

"We know that your generation of Miraculous wielders were more secretive. But we have broken that barrier long ago." Adrien came from the smoke, now with the Turtle Miraculous. His bodysuit may initially appeared to look like Carapace's but it had some skater elements like elbow and knee pads, and instead of a domino mask he had a bandanna-like eye mask. Now he was Terrapin.

"Though even if they thought of doing it at the time, everyone knew what a little scumball you were, so they would never trust you." Chloé stepped forward and now she had the Black Cat Miraculous. She didn't look like anyone would expect, with a punk rock look, her hair messy and combed to one side and streaks of dirty green in her hair. She was now Ebony.

"Because you...you were a mistake." Alya stepped forward, now holding the Bee. Her bodysuit was similar to Chloé's but the black and yellow was arranged differently and her hair and bangs were woven in a more stinger-like shape. She was Abeille Jaune in this from.

"And boy what a mistake! Pissed at the world, and the best thing he decided to do about it was trying to tear it down. Like a child throwing a tantrum." Sabrina stepped in, now wielding the Horse. She now had a very cowgirl-like look to her, her hair in a braid, a stetson jacket and a domino mask replacing her glasses. She was now Sorraia.

"You think that because you had a hard life you had the right to ruin it for others? I know a fair amount of people whom led difficult lives but managed to rise above and become better, while you, you didn't." Max rose from the smoke as Lupinard. His suit had a phantom thief motive, with the Fox's orange and white and the coattails actually becoming a fox tail.

Finally was stepping out Nino with the Ladybug, aka Axion. "You think you are a bigshot, but you are actually the weakling. Held back by hatred and contempt. You know, I held nothing but said hatred and contempt for you. And while I will never forgive you...I am not going to become like you. I will not let it dictate my actions." Nino's suit had the Ladybug motif. But it looked more casual with the hoodie. He even had a cap he wore backwards with the ladybug motif. "So in short, you suck, dude!"

"Me? You think I am the problem? I don't know what Fu was thinking, letting you all know each other's identity, even allow you to swap Miraculous. Even when he trained me as a so called replacement, he still kept his secrets and motives close to his chest. We were all pawns to him. I may be a twisted bastard, but I was taught by one. He told me I'd be great, that I'd be what the world needs. And over one disagreement he outed me? Do you know how hard it is to hear at a young age as a kid, to be unworthy?" Latombe growled. Apparently they had opened some old wounds as Latombe's eye was twitching and he was foaming at the mouth.

"I heard it all through my childhood and I am not a psychopathic murderer." Ebony said.

"And Fu may have made some mistakes, but he is a good man. I know him, and I trust the man I know!" Langren said.

"That's the problem with you. You made the entire thing about yourself. anything you did, these inventions of yours, you stunt with the Miraculous. Ironically you would have been the best, your work benefiting mankind, you'd be the greatest hero, if only you looked beyond your own self-pity." Axion said as he rubbed his thumb across his nose.

Latombe's face went red as his eyes bulged. He smashed a button on his console. "Overclock! Take all your power and wipe these little brats form the surface of the earth!" Toybot turned red as it heated up and steam came from its joints as his head spins and it eyed the heroes menacingly. Missiles and lasers flew everywhere. Its arms stretched out and lashed wildly. The key flew form his back and shot everywhere.

The heroes moved in. They witnessed it the first time when the thing overclocked and went berserk. But this time they were ready, they knew what to expect. Langren and Ebony charged in on all fours. They strafed from one side to eh other to avoid the onslaught of lasers and missiles.

One laser came dangerously close. "Cowabunga!" Terrapin, riding his shield like a skateboard, skated down the street, did a trick of the walls, and skated, with his shield deflecting the lasers. It pushed him back but allowed the ladies to move in closer. Axion and Abeille Jaune swung around the place by their string weapons. At times they swatted missiles out of the air. The flying wind-up key flew in and tried to skewer them, but Lupinard threw himself on top of it, from above. With one projectile down the two continued onward.

Sorraia zoomed in, trying to move in a pattern none of the other Horse wielders had used. She did fine, she wasn't fried to a crisp yet. She threw the horseshoe, but it was shot out of the air by a laser (though not destroyed) but then she took her hat of her head and threw it as an additional weapon and it hit Toybot in the face.

The heroes now had come close enough. He tried firing lasers and missiles, but he couldn't properly aim at a short distance like that. So he stretched his arms, which started to crack the earth as he tried grabbing at them but missed. They realized he was getting sloppier, Latombe was getting sloppier.

Abeille Jaune took a page from A-Metal's book and used the bee gauntlet in stinger form to burrow underground. Latombe thought the same trick would be attempted twice, now the 'stupid kids' thought they had exploited a so called weakness in his creation. Toybot stretched its arm out and followed into the tunnel Abeille made. "Cataclysm!" Ebony said as she touched the arm, which rusted and broke apart. Toybot detached the arm before the decay could reach the rest of the body. But it was already partially crippled.

Abeille Jaune shot up from the underground again and this time shot the trompo at Toybot. It was still processing its loss of limb and wasn't in time to react to the drill-spinning trompo being shoved into its optic, breaking it.

Latombe pulled at his hair as his screen spelled out 'Error!' over and over again. He ave in to his anger and punched straight through that screen. As he pulled back his hand he seemed to realize to have lost his temper.

"Your inner Neanderthal is showing." Mahamayuri droned.

"Oh, now you have a sense of humor!" Latombe groaned.

The flying wind-up key had Lupinard in his sights. He put his flute to the lips with a 'Mirage!' Though there were multiple, the key could sense the real one. As if that would work. It charged at Lupinard, whom jumped aside...but the flying key couldn't stop in time as it flung into its owner, again. The illusion didn't work in the traditional sense, but it still had been a distraction. Now the thing was embedded in the shoulder of Toybot, sparking heavily as its arm lay there, limply.

"Booyakasha!" Terrapin said as he he used his shield to smash the key in further, sparking even more heavily as the arm fell off, the the wind-up key was sent flying.

Langren then clamped onto the head and clawed away a the robot's remaining optic in a feral manner, before finally gauging it out. The machine was on its last legs now. It opened up its chest and fired missiles, the only thing it has left.

Sorraia charged in, and threw her horseshoe in a boomerang fashion, destroying most of them. She then used her hat to catch the last one and threw it at the flying wind-up key, destroying that flying little annoyance as well.

Axion wrapped the yo-yo and the string around his fist as he shot at the crippled Toybot. Using it as a makeshift knuckleduster, he screamed to the heavens, putting all in his punch, and straight through the monitor on Toybot's chest. The robot twitching and sparking. Axion retracted his fist, in his hand now some robotic parts from its internal compound in his hand. Toybot went still and it fell over backward. A small explosion came from his chest and it smoked.

The heroes panted and they dropped down on their knees, bums or lay down. "Well, I'm knackered." Terrapin said.

"At least that's over." Langren said as she turned to Axion. "So, how are you feeling?"

"I think I managed to vent a lot with my frustrations. Only thing better if it was his actual face though, instead of his little screen." Axion said. "You know, in hindsight Latombe is a pathetic man. He did horrible things but he is sad and lonely and I almost pity him. He thinks he has something to fight for, but he is in hindsight fighting for nothing."

"You'd still kick his ass if you saw him if you saw him in real life?" Abeille Jaune asked.

"Of course." Axion added.

"You know, it was an interesting experience to use another Miraculous for a change. I like Kaalki though and I want her back, but is quite educational nonetheless." Lupinard pointed out.

"I'll say. I feel energized with the Horse, and with the Bee, it was like I was on top of the world. Different from Barkk's playful energy." Sorraia noted. "Though I miss the little pup."

"Maybe we should have the others practice with swapped kwamis too. After all, it may be handy if we need a specific Miraculous but the person itself is unavailable, or another situation where there is a copycat or something else similar is in place." Ebony suggested.

"Me and Bugaboo spoke about it a while back" Terrapin said. "Though we thought we wouldn't have to do that until later. But knowing what Latombe can do..."

"We may need to speed up the training. Because thaat monster of a man may have more tricks upon his sleeve." Langren said. "It was most likely only the first of many dangerous inventions he sends after us."

"At least this invention is not completely destroyed. I can perhaps study it to learn more about it." Lupinard said as he picked up Toybot's severed arm.

"Will the Miraculous Ladybug erase him, repair him or...?" Sorraia asked as she pointed at the defective Toybot.

"In principle not. The Ladybugs bring order. Not necessarily a hundred percent like before, but the most stable state of order. So it will remain wrecked." Langren said.

"Well, in that case, may I?" Axion asked. Langren nodded. "Lucky Charm!" An toy dragon in ladybug colors fell from the sky. "Miraculous Axion!" he said as he threw it to the sky. Th damage done by Toybot was undone, but not the damage to Toybot itself.

"Now, we need a place to detransform and swap kwamis back." Langren said.

"Can it wait until I'm back home...I was only wearing a towel when I transformed. And in between transformations it was getting really chilly." Ebony said.

"Luka would nosebleed to dead if he heard that. He may still get that if he sees you like this. I mean, punk rock black cat?" Abeille asked.

"I just wanted to know what it felt like to wear that style." Ebony said as she huffed.

"I'll say we get our kwami's back, go home and rest." Axion noted. No one disagreed with him.

At Latombe's lab, the madman himself was angry wand was throwing stuff in his lab around and breaking them. "I hate those kids! They have no right to call me out...They think I'm unworthy but those naive children, spoiled by power, no vision...It should have worked! My invention was..." He panted after some ranting.

"Got that out of your system?" Mahamayuri asked. Latombe didn't answer and just sat down in a chair and pouted. "It was a good idea on paper. But a machine without a soul, it would never keep up with a human. You can give it any command, but it would not be able to think outside of the box. Not like those kids."

"You are now praising them too, they are the enemy." Latombe said.

"They are your enemies. They are obstacles to me. But like myself, they fight for what they believe in. I don't fault them for that. Ideals will tend to clash." Mahamayuri said. "I hope you have learned something from this Latombe. It is not good to become overconfident. Even less by taunting a powerful enemy."

"Wait, you expected me to fail?" Latombe asked. That's what he got from the way Mahamayuri spoke.

"Of course I did. You are in the end still a human being. A brilliant one, but a flawed one nonetheless. Confronting you with your flaws is a first step to reflect, to improve. Because no matter how harsh the words of the heroes were..." Mahamayuri turned around to see Latombe eye to eye. "They held the truth."

Latombe's fury reignited. It was bad enough to hear it from those snot-nosed brats but hearing it from one he could have considered and ally, that was too much. He stood up, threw himself at Mahamayuri, but something happened before his punch could connect. He felt a pressure around him. His chest compressed, he couldn't breathe. He felt empty, he felt despair, like all the joy in the world was gone...images flashed. He saw horrors, true horrors...he couldn't describe it, he couldn't comprehend it, the only thing he knew it felt afraid. he collapsed on the floor, panting heavily, almost hyperventilating. "Don't touch me." Mahamayuri said softly but firmly.

"What are you?" Latombe asked.

"I am the bigger fish, Latombe. I hope the lesson sticks this time. I need you for your intellect. But if I were to achieve my goal, you need to get your act together. And I'm not above some tough love to get through to you. Don't forget..." Mahamayuri said as he leaned in towards the ground and was at eye level with the mad doctor. "Without me you'd still be rotting away in that jail cell, you'd die in there. I own you. I am not your partner, I am your master. I am a patient being, but I am not a forgiving one." Mahamayuri then left the room, leaving the madman to recollect his thoughts.

Latombe always wanted to be feared, but now he felt a fear like he never felt before. And he still didn't know what Mahamayuri truly was. Aside from that he was dangerous. more dangerous then him. Latombe never thought he'd say it, but he almost wished he was left back at his prison cell.

"..And that is what happened." Marinette said as she had finished explaining; Master Fu most likely had seen the news, but he would wanted feedback from their point of view.

Master Fu stroked his grey beard. "It was indeed a lever technique. Though it was one that could not have worked, or at least would be very difficult if you didn't now each other's identities. It also shows he great amounts of trust the team has in each other, and it fills me with certain pride. Though with some shame as in several instances when I handed out the Miraculous I didn't extent the same courtesy to the other teams. Some of them could in hindsight have benefited from this."

"Well, the world hasn't gone to hell so they still must have done something right. That and I doubt they fought with an Amazo knock-off in their lifetime." Adrien noted.

"I managed to get the remains of that knock-off to my lab." Max noted. "I'll hopefully learn more from it. About how Latombe works, where he maybe. I can perhaps reverse engineer something from it. Markov is due to an upgraded body." Max noted.

"How will you explain that to your mom when she finds out?" Sabrina asks.

"Oh she normally leaves me to my own devices in my lab. She trusts me enough to be careful with my inventions, and besides, my lab is a private quarters and she respects said privacy. Also with her upcoming astronaut training it may be a blip on her radar anyways. And when it is time for her to join the next space mission, it will be my aunt looking after me, and she barely can tell apart a dvd player from a microwave."

"If anyone can figure out anything about it, it should be you." Sabrina said to Max, whom preened a little.

"Anyhow, we are still far form done. Latombe may be tinkering with his next death machine as we speak." Marinette said.

"But until we found out where he is, just like with Hawkmoth, all we can do is react to the danger until we gathered enough info to track him down." Chloé pointed out. "At least as far as we know, Latombe cannot akumatize half the city at once."

"I think we have a lot to talk about the next time everyone is around for the meeting, they'll want to know what they missed out upon. And about the change in lesson plans next time. We're going to need some aces up our sleeve." Alya added.

"I already plan to address possible swaps in the future for when there are emergencies. I thought to also start a bit early with fusions." Marinette said.

"Are you certain? A swap is drastic but bearable. But fusions can be physically straining." Master Fu asked.

"I am certain we can pull it off. We have strong people on our team. And no battle is won by taking the easy way out." Marinette said.

"I have utmost faith in you young ones, s you know. I can only advice you further that you be careful. Or as careful as you can be in this line of work." Fu replied.

"We promise, Master Fu." Marinette said.

"As for you, Nino...how do you feel?" Master Fu asked as he eyed Wayzz's new holder.

"Oh, he has reopened some old wounds and...I still hated him but...me hating him doesn't seem all that important now. He needs to be stopped, that's for sure but...I get tired of the hate now." Nino explained.

"Having lived longer then most people, I had to deal with my fair share of losses and grief, more then most people alive. In a self-perceived mistake I thought I had to deal with it by myself. It may have explained some of the mistakes I made in life. Even after a century or two, some losses don't get any easier. But one has to accept these losses, as one needs to move forward and treasure what one had, and what one still has." Master Fu said.

"I think I get it. I still got my mom, my brother, my friends...and they're counting on me. Can't let them down." Nino answered.

"That's why you are a worthy bearer of the Turtle, Nino. You learned a lesson in a short lifetime the took me a century to learn." Fu said with a soft smile.

"I think you don't give yourself enough credit, dude." Nino replied.

Master Fu chuckled. "I think it is time for you youngsters to go home, you probably have worried parents waiting for you. That and this old man needs his rest. I'm still up for mahjong next week, Wayzz. I may actually beat you this time."

"You say that every time, Master Fu. But who knows?" Wayzz replied.

With that, the heroes went on their way, but before the parted, Nino to turned to Alya. "Hey Als, what about we have a proper date again? So I could make up for being a lousy boyfriend the past few weeks?"

"You haven't been lousy. Hot-tempered and bull-headed, but not lousy. But whom am I to judge?" Alya said. "But having quality time with my boyfriend that doesn't include kicking the crap out of baddies sounds fine." Alya grabbed Nino's hand. The two would be fine.

"Madame Millefeuille's? And a movie? This Saturday?" Nino asks.

"Sounds fine with me." Alya answered as she gave a peck on her boyfriends'lips."

Sabrina was on her way home as suddenly Max caught up. "Wait, Sabrina, there is something I want to ask." he said.

Sabrina turned around to face him. "Yes?" she asks softly.

"Well, er...Sabrina, you are a very clever and determined young girl and...I like spending time with you..." Max stammered. He didn't run his calculations because he is using all his brainpower to try and not make a fool out of himself at the moment.

Sabrina shushed him with a finger to his lips. "I like movies, we'll meet Friday after school, I'll buy the popcorn." she said with a soft smile.

"Really? Er...I mean, great! Friday it is." Max said. "Oh er, if you want to help me study Toybot's remains you can also hop by later this week?"

"I thought you didn't let anyone but Markov and yourself in your lab?" Sabrina asked.

"I can change my mind." Max stated.

"All right. Is it good if I come by tomorrow after school?"

"Yeah, sure." Max said.

"All right, see you tomorrow, brainiac." Sabrina said with a wink as she then walked home.

max stood there for a few moments. Even with his brain capacity, there are some things that take long to process. After a few minutes, Max pumped his fist and let out a loud and excited "YES!" He then quickly recomposed himself, adjusted his bow tie and walked home, whistling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what I've wrote the entire episode for! Kwami swaps! Seemed like a good idea. 
> 
> Some names speak for themselves, other have a bit more context. 
> 
> Marinette was malachite in season one, she has become Lady Noire like the tv show, and Langren, that's chinese for werewolf. A ref to her dad whom was Weredad in the show and Loup-Garou in my universe.
> 
> Adrien would have a punny name as Updog, knowing his joking nature. A Ninja Turtle vibe for Terrapin because he's a lovable dork and he returns as Scarlet Bug (my rename of Mr. Bug from the show which was a stuipd name). 
> 
> Chloé's Horse form Carolina is named after a horse breed, Scarlet Lady is a popular fan name for Chloé with teh Ladybug miraculous and as Ebony..well, it is a shade of black of course.
> 
> Alya being the comic book geek would have a Captain America inspiration in Olive Ripley (named after a sea turtle species), Abeille Jaune hails from one of my plotbunnies (name means 'yellow bee' in french) and Amber Beauty (also form one of my plotbunnies, named after Black Beauty but a color swap)
> 
> Nino returns as Nightprowler, just like season one. Urban Fox with his girlfriend's miraculous and with the ladybug he's Axion, and Axion is a genus of ladybugs.
> 
> Sabrina as the horse wielder is also named after a horse breed, Sorraia. Honeybee is obvious. Red Fox is as well.
> 
> Finally Max. With the dog he is named Border COllie, which I've read that they are the smartest breed of dog, fitting for Max. Lupinard refers to Reynard the fox and Arsene Lupin, a pair of fictional theives and tricksters. Finally, with the bee, A-Metal he is named after the bee genus Augochloropsis Metallica. 
> 
> So aside from that, Nino's doing better, a new pairing kicks off and Mahamayuri reminds Latombe whom is in charge.


	11. Interlude 4: A sort of aftermath

"Man, you leave for one weekend to visit some relatives in Italy and you miss having fought a move-copying or move-countering robot and seeing you swap Miraculouses." Lila said during the Miraculous team's gathering and training session.

"Why do you say it like its exposition, we already know this stuff?" Alix asked confused.

"Because we know, but others may not." Jinxx said, having snuggled on top of Lila's head, her favorite nap spot.

"I don't get it." Alix noted.

"I see beyond time and space, but the Bat sees beyond other realities at times. A reality that is unclear even to me." Fluff noted as she chewed on a slice of carrot cake.

Alix raised a finger, paused, frowned and stopped in her tracks. "Never mind, I don't think I want to know." She then turned to main five. "Sorry I wasn't able to make it. That reception at the Louvre with my family was important and I couldn't sneak out so easily..."

"It's fine, we know that we are with a large group, everyone with their own stuff going on. It is not easy for all of us to be free at the same time. We all have our responsibilities outside being heroes." Marinette assured them.

"Not to mention, we managed in the end, so it was clearly not as bad as you think. Exhausting, though." Adrien noted. "Good to have a lot of heroes in reserve though."

"Speaking of reserves, where are Sabrina and Max? They're the only ones not around?" Mylene asked.

"Oh, didn't they tell you? They are on a date." Chloé explained.

"No way? Maxie and Brina?" Kim asked wide eyed. "Oh, didn't know he had it in him. I'm so proud of him." Kim pretended to wipe away a tear. "I am going to tease him mercilessly about it though."

"I knew they were getting friendlier as of late, but that they got together?" Ivan wondered. "I knew they respect each others as classmates but..."

"Times are changing, and so are people, sometimes it are these differences that push people onto different paths, and then those paths tend to cross in different ways from before." Marinette said.

"Did Fu give you lesson in Fortune Cookie speak in addition to all the Miraculous stuff?" Kim asked.

"Actually he does do that." Marinette said. "He says it is cheesy, but it is expected from wise guardians."

"Everyone has a guilty pleasure I guess." Alix said as she shrugged.

"Back to Max and Sabrina, I think they make a cute couple." Rose noted.

"You'd say that. The only one who is a bigger shipper then you is Alya and she has been surprisingly quiet about it." Juleka pondered.

"Oh, I already got the inner shipper Alya energy out of my system." Alya said. "That and I've been focusing more of my attention elsewhere." Alya said as she grabbed Nino's hand.

"Oh, that's right..." Kim said as he scratched the back of his neck. "How are you holding up, bro?"

"I've been better. But I think scrapping his tin toy allowed me to vent some of my frustrations. It also helped I have a few patient friends, honorary sister and girlfriend talking sense into me." Nino said.

"If you want, if we see the guy, I'll ram an Uproar down his throat, beat the shit out of him and present him on a silver platter." Kim said.

"I am working on the reach of my portals, but one of the destinations I have in mind is a piece of the ocean near Australia with a severe shark infestation. Could ask Latombe for a swim. Chances of death by drowning are about zero." Alix suggested.

"Wait, are we still joking about this, or not?" Rose asked.

"Not sure...bastard deserves a bit of pain at least." Juleka added.

"Let's not talk about the bastard and let him ruin our good mood." Marc suggested. "Instead I am more curious to hear about the Miraculous swap. That sounds like an epic story."

"It was. First time we did long ago because I was disabled, and some were swapped around. We realistically knew there would be similar situations and trained a bit with Miraculous swaps. Not much but in the end it made enough for a difference." Marinette explained.

"And luckily Sabrina and Max were also quick on the uptake. We wanted to wait a bit since we ourselves don't have completely figured it out. But it is a good way to throw off our enemies so we thought about starting early." Adrien added.

"Oh, that's so cool! Someone swap with me." Kim shouted.

"Oh, sure. Don't mind my feelings." Xuppu said sarcastically.

"I love you, you little scamp, but you can be a handful." Kim pointed out.

"I need a break from your stupidity at times!" Xuppu said as he stuck out his tongue. Kim made a face back and they went on for a while. They have learned by now those two idiots would bicker for a while, get bored and continue like nothing happened.

"Actually I had thought about it too, but not in the way of real life, just wondering how each of us would look like with various Miraculouses. It's cool but the possibilities are endless." Nathaniel said as he pulled out his sketchbook. "I haven't thought of names though, because I'd think people would rather pick themselves."

"Oh, is that me with the Rooster?" Marc asked as he peeked over Nathaniel's shoulder at the sketchbook. "Oh, there are a few...Brazilian Carnival and Mardi Gras?"

"Well, these are colorful and you are colorful." Nathaniel noted. "For myself with the Goat, I thought about this renaissance theme, as it was an era of artists."

"Oh, let us see!" Rose said as she looked at the sketch book. "Are we in it?"

"Of course I made a few designs for each of you. Not all possible ones because that are hundreds, but a few." Nathaniel said as he moved on to the pages with Rose and Juleka.

"That seems a bit more metal then rock, but love the boar motive and those tusks." Juleka said. "Oh, I know what my name would be: Razorback."

"Oh, that outfit would be so cute on me. I'd look like a magical girl." Rose noted.

"We are all technically magical girl." Alix pointed out. "And magical boys."

"Yeah, but it looks more anime style magical girl than normal magical. What do you think Juleka?" Rose asked.

"...You know the thing we have on Thursday, I can convince Roaar to swap..." Juleka noted as she licked her lips.

"I'm the kwami of passion, sure, but no way you are using the Miraculous for that!" Roaar noted.

"Oh, is there one of me with the rabbit?" Kim asked.

"Kim, I didn't drew you with the rabbit. In fact, while there are some Miraculouses we'd trust you with, but should we really give you the one with time and space at your command?" Nathaniel asked.

"Hey, it wouldn't be that bad." Kim noted.

"Like you wouldn't try to bring a dinosaur to the present as a pet?" Marc asked.

"Me? No, that'd be silly." Kim said, but he didn't sound convincing.

"Is there any of you guys with me?" Jinxx asked.

"Er...I don't think anyone wants you anywhere near their brain. I mean, we see what you do to Lila?" Alix noted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lila said, now standing there with a red wig, and a cat plushie, which held a Valentine heart.

"I don't put the silly in people. I just let it out. Lila had the silly in her." Jinxx said as she munched on something that looked like multi-colored popcorn. She offered some to the others. "Bibble?"

"I like Nath's art as much as the next girl, but I think we should be getting back to training." Marinette suggested.

"Oh, can you show us your swapped forms again? I'd love to see them up close." Mylene asked.

"Pretty please?" Rose asked as she and Mylene both pulled out their puppy dog eyes.

"Dang...I hate it when they do that." Adrien said. "They always succeed."

"Well, it can't hurt. You learn them by showing them something. So who goes first?" Alya asked.

"Allow me...Now let's see...Adrikins, can you borrow me Plagg?" Chloé asked.

Adrien looked at Plagg, whom had fallen asleep in the box where the Camembert has been earlier. It would be funny to see Plagg's face as he woke up to being sucked inside the ring. "By all means." Adrien said as he handed the ring to Chloé.

"Sorry I'm late, I got a bit of overtime at my side job but..." the sound of Luka's voice sounded as he arrived on the scene.

"Plagg Claws out!" Chloé's voice shouted as she turned into Ebony again, the spluttering of a Plagg woken from his nap to be sucked violently in the ring.

Luka was stunned and he dropped his bag as he now saw his angelbee in a black cat punk rock look. "Angelbee? Or should I say angelkitty? Just...whoa?" Luka stammered as he blushed.

Ebony seemed surprise by Luka's arrival, but soon recomposed herself as she grinned and asked seductively. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" she said as she ran her fingers down his chest. "Or rather, I'll get your tongue later..."

"What's it about the feline Miraculous that makes one so flirty?" Nino wondered.

"I dunno, but the Black Cat gives some of the best outfits for...indulging fantasies." Adrien said. "I think Mari was hot as hell as Lady Noire. I think she always is but that black suit did her some favors." Adrien replied.

"Nightprowler's outfit also showed off Nino's perky bottom rather nicely." Alya said.

"Gah!" Nino said as he blushed.

"You are able to get flustered, it means that you're doing better." Alya snickered.

"I think everyone has gone way off track. Does everyone have really short attention spans now?" Marinette asked.

"We are teenagers, remember?" Adrien joked.

"Ok, Chloé, I know you enjoy the attention of your boyfriend, but we are supposed to teach our teammates about swaps." Marinette said.

"Yeah, while I like how you and my brother gets along I don't want to see you making me an aunt." Juleka noted.

"Jules, you and Rose are just as bad." Luka noted.

"I think all the couples in our midst are having troubles keeping their hands off each other." Ebony huffed.

"Not jealous at seeing you are missing, single ladies?" Kim grinned as he addressed Alix and Lila.

"Heck no! Romance makes you guys act silly and mushy. If that's what romance does to you, I'd rather not." Alix said.

"And I don't think I'd like dating right now. I'm doing good for myself. Mending things with my mom, soccer, becoming a hero. I feel pretty satisfied for now." Lila noted.

"We still got a training session to do." Marinette said. "Nino, care to demonstrate?" Marinette said as she held out her earrings.

"Me?" Nino asked.

"Feels right you start off the training as you struck the winning blow last time." Marinette noted.

Nino thought about it. He didn't get to be the teacher very often, as he did mostly assisting during these sparring sessions. But maybe just this once he could be in charge of class. He smiled a bit as he took the earrings and handed his bracelet. "Hold Wayzz will ya?"

Marinette held on to the turtle as Nino turned into Axion and stood in front of Ebony, ready to spar. "Wielding a different Miraculous doesn't automatically give us Marinette and Adrien's fighting moves. We still fight in our own way, just with different tools. Pay attention and you may note both differences and similarities in fighting styles."

Marinette smiled. It has been doing Nino some good to be around his friends again. She had no problem putting Nino in charge of today's class either. She was happier then ever that she now had a huge team behind her. Not just that there are more people to protect the city, but also that there are more people to support you. They had more people to confide in, their allies grew in numbers. But Latombe had none. They knew they had the brighter future ahead of them.

Jinxx broke the mood when she looked into Nath's sketch book, his eyes widened and she said: "Holy crap, did we became our own fan community just now?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just another interlude, coming from the last chapter and some funny or heartwarming reaction of the heroes that didn't get to be there.
> 
> Wanted to make it a double feature with a date chapter with Max and Sabrina, but I couldn't think of a premise for that interlude yet so I'll have to do that later.


	12. Interlude 5: the Sangrés

Sebastien Sangré was many things. He was a simple guy whom loved the simple life. Preferring small and cosy above big and flashy. Ironically since his job includes being a mascot for TVi called Mr. Banana. Though it paid for his nephew's college funds, so he was not to complain. After all, his nephew was everything to him. He could put up being dressed as a fruitbowl if it secured Lysander's future.

"Are you sure you are going to be okay, Uncle?" Lysander asked, eyeing the bandaged arms of his uncle since the soup incidents a few weeks ago.

"Don't worry, the healing process goes along nicely. And if there is a problem, I'll just call Gerard. But as for you, you are only young once, that cute girlfriend of yours is having a match and she'll kick ass more then normal if her boyfriend is there to cheer her on." Sebastien said.

"If you say so Uncle. But let me know if you need, anything right?" Lysander asked as he packed his stuff.

"Don't worry about me, okay?" Sebastien said. The man sighed. "Just so that you'd know, Lysander...you have grown up so much, you have been blossoming in the past few months. I want to say, I'm proud of you, Lysander. Don't forget that."

"I won't. And I appreciate the sentiment, but why so sappy all of a sudden?" Lysander asked.

"I think it is standard for a parental figure to remind their ward that they care once in a while. At least I think it is, I didn't have a handbook on parenting when you came into my care. I still wonder at times if I didn't mess up." Sebastien said as he scratched the back of his head.

"I think you did well, Uncle." Lysander assured him. He checked his watch. "Better keep going, Kagami's match is in an hour. Bye Uncle, love you!"

"Love you too, Lys!" Sebastien shouted after Lysander as he ran out to make it on time. He sighed. He was happy for his nephew. It hadn't been easy raising his nephew as a single parent. Lysander used to be so withdrawn, he wondered if he could have done better. But he had friends now and a relationship that was going well, so Sebastien was happy that things turned out the way they did.

Well, since he was still bandaged up a bit, cooking is a bit more difficult for him. But since his boyfriend was at work and his nephew out with his girlfriend, he decided he could enjoy a bit of takeout. He found the menu of the local Chinese restaurant, heading into the kitchen to sit down and check it out as he found an unexpected guest in the kitchen. He dropped the menu and his phone. "You..."

"Hey, if it isn't good ol' Bastie! How's my fav brother-in-law?" Gustav Latombe sat in hs kitchen, a smug grin on his face. "Like what you did with the place. Small, but cosy."

Sebastien clenched his fists. It hurt a little due to a few burns but he fought through it. He gritted his teeth. "You shouldn't be here. You should be locked up...you are not allowed to go free."

"Now, that's not exactly a warm welcome." Latombe said sarcastically. "Can't a guy just visit his family?"

"You are not family. You never had the right to call us that." Sebastien growled. "In fact, because of you MY family had fallen apart. It is nearly all but destroyed. Because you are an insane murderous bastard!"

"I won't deny that." Latombe said. The tone he used was weird. It was almost like he was genuinely regretful. "So...how's Lysander?"

"You know about him?" Sebastien turned pale.

"First thing I did with my free time was looking up where you were up to. And I knew Mercy was pregnant before she left. I saw him from a distance. He has inherited her looks..." Latombe said.

"You stay away form him! And do not dare to speak my sister's name. You have no right. Not after what you did to her." Sebastien slammed his hands in the table, ignoring the pain.

"I never hurt her. She was the only one I could never hurt." Latombe said.

"That's a riot. You never laid a finger on her but had you considered what would happen to her when she found out what you really are? Did you know how much it broke her heart to find out the man she loved was a monster? A murderer? It destroyed her...she lost the will to live. And if it wasn't for Lysander, I would not have lived on either. But I had to pick up the pieces and I had to keep strong to make sure my sister's son had a good life, even if I had to go through hell and back." Sebastien shouted.

Latombe didn't speak for a while; He didn't seem really regretful, more like he was sheepish. "And I must say you did well for yourself and him. Despite the fact you dress like a banana you got a career in showbizz. I know he has a girlfriend, and one of high class and prestige. Hell, even your relationship...good job, Bastie. The guy you nailed, that physique would make Dwayne Johnson pale. You now how to pick 'em!"

"Everything I achieved and what Lysander achieved were certainly not thanks to you." Sebastien replied.

"Bastie...for all that it's worth, I did truly love Mercy." Latombe said.

"You clearly loved yourself more. Otherwise you'd have not started killing people, and subject her to the fallout and heartbreak. If you truly cared you'd have become a better man. But you didn't. So do not lie to me by saying you cared!" Sebastien said.

"I admit that my views on love and affection are skewed. I am many things, but I'm not unaware of what I truly am. So in hindsight I don't exactly blame you." Latombe said. "I guess Lysander doesn't know about me."

"He doesn't. And I want to keep it that way. I don't want to burden him with the thought that his biological father is a murderer! As far as he knows, his father is dead. I didn't outright say it but I let him come to that conclusion. And in a way it is. If there was really a decent man in you, he is long dead." Sebastien answered. "So I warn you, if you ever come near him..."

"I appreciate that you are so protective of him, and that you raised him as well as you did, but there are things out there you cannot protect him from." Latombe said. "You know that wouldn't be able to take me on."

Sebastien opened a nearly drawer and took out a knife, pointing it towards Latombe. "Get out..." he growled.

"Oh, if I were a piece of toast I'd be really afraid of being buttered." Latombe said sarcastically.

"GET OUT!" Sebastien shouted.

"Fine. I know I'm not wanted. I don't know why I even bothered. Must be an illogical emotional thing all humans have." He stood up and calmly walked toward the kitchen door. "Don't bother try to inform the authorities or even the Miraculous Heroes, by the time I'm gone, there is no trail left to follow. I made sure of that. And another hint, take Lysander and move away. Don't get caught in the crossfire."

"I won't run. I know you won't win." Sebastien said.

"Maybe the heroes shouldn't worry about me." Latombe said. Though Latombe doubted he'd lose in the end, he had a feeling that if he did, Mahamayuri would be a whole other problem. "So...I guess this is goodbye. I would say sorry but...it wouldn't change much."

"Just...Leave." Sebastien lowered the knife. With that, Latombe just walked out. Sebastien stood there for a while, he didn't know how long. After a while he just sat down on the chair in th kitchen, buried his head in his bandaged hands, and bawled his eyes out. What were he to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another interlude, though it starts of light it gets heavy later.
> 
> Now, Lysander Sangré is a unique OC. I initially imagined him as less kind and probably be a future villain, having grown bitter by heartbreak. However, Lysander turned out nicer then expected, certainly since I wanted to avoid the jerk boyfriend cliché with Juleka last season. So Lysander stuck around as an ally instead.
> 
> Then he ends up with Kagami, and I gave him a guardian, his uncle Sebastien. I had no idea what to do with his absent parents, either abroad or dead.
> 
> Latombe was always going to be a part of the project, but I had initially no familial ties with any other characters. But since Lysander is still here and has become important though in a different way then intended, he is now the son of Latombe. 
> 
> It has been proven psychopaths or sociopaths can prove themselves able to act normally , fake emotions and even have families. This is hence the case with Latombe. And Lysander's mother was just an unfortunate person whom didn't realize how bad her husband was. And hence Lysander ended up raised by his uncle.
> 
> And Sebastien is a normal guy, but for his nephew, for his sister's son he'd not be afraid to pull a knife to a mass murdering bastard like Latombe. 
> 
> Anyhow, enjoy the chapter


	13. Extra: Transformations

"Hello everyone, I'm Jinxx here, and most of you were wondering what took me so long to fully break the fourth wall. But that's not important, this isn't what this chapter is about. Remember the kwami swaps a few episodes back? There were just smoke and flashes of colored light to not break up the pace of the fight, it was about rapid shifting after all. And while you readers see the transformations, it is a bit of a cool sequence to serve as eye candy and the heroes themselves don't acknowledge or realize it. For them it is a fractions of a second for the suit to appear.

But the author doesn't want you to be deprived of the transformation sequences. So he will include them is this little neat bonus. So I'll first spout my usual bit of randomness and then we go on with the show. Pickles look like crocodiles! Now enjoy!"

** LADY NOIRE (Black Cat!Marinet te) **

Marinette held her hand in a fist with the Black Cat Miraculous ring out. "Plagg, Claws Out." She uncurled her fist and spread her fingers out as the black cat kwami was sucked in, she spins around and held her hand up high as the black ring now sported the neon green paw prints. She ran her fingers across her face, producing the mask, her hair snapping loose from her pigtails, which grow and braided itself into a long blue hair braid. With her other hand she moved across the top of her head, manifesting the cat ears.

She reached out with her arm to the side as the transformation crawled across her arm. She spins around again as the rest of the transformation spreads across her body, from her head to feet. She claws the air a few times before striking a pose in front of a neon green background with the black cat miraculous symbol.

** SCARLET BUG (Ladybug!Adrien) **

"Tikki, Spots on!" Adrien's transformation sequence started with Tikki entering the earrings, turning them red and black spots appeared. Red energy traveled from his left hand, which he held in a fist and then formed his suit as it traveled from left to right.

He then outstretched his middle and index fingers on both hands and ran them across his eyes to form the mask. The yo-yo appeared on his waist. He did a backflip, landed on his feet, and made a pose with his hands on his waist in front of the red background with the ladybug symbol.

** OLIVE RIDLEY (Turtle!Alya) **

"Wayzz! Shell On!" Alya held out her arm with the bracelet. Wayzz entered it, and a disc of green energy appeared over it. She threw the disc, which came back like a boomerang and circled around her, from the bottom up tot he top.

As it circled around her, in a green light her suits started to form around the part of the body the shield was circling around until her suit was fully formed. The disc shot in the air, turned into the shield, which Olive Ridley caught. She then struck a very Captain America-esque pose in front of a green background with the turtle Miraculous symbol.

** URBAN FOX (Fox!Nino) **

"Trixx, Let's pounce!" Nino said as Trixx was sucked into the fox Miraculous. Orange light enveloped his upper body, as Nino traveled his hand across his body like he was zipping up a jacket, a hoodie forming from the orange light. As he was zipped all the way up, the fox Miraculous now has become the zipper.

Nino took his headphones, which were lazily hanging around his neck, and held them over his head, letting go so the headphones could snap into place, and they transformed into the fox-eared headphones once they did. He put his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, the orange light traveling from inside his hoodie pockets to travel up his arms to transform them.

Nino then busted out some hip-hop-like dance movies, as his tail formed and the rest of his body transformed. After a few dance poses, he posed with one hand in his pocket, another hand out with index, pinky and thumb outstretched in front of an orange background with the Fox Miraculous symbol.

** CAROLINA (Horse!Chloé) **

"Kaalki! Full Gallop!" Chloé held up the Horse Miraculous glasses in one hand, where Kaalki was right now flying towards, to be absorbed. In her other hand she held her sunglasses. She then brought them together, as the Miraculous and the sunglasses actually fused into one pair of stylish glasses. She put them on, and as soon as she did, energy traveled across her arms to her body to transform the upper part.

She then did a dance routine that was very ballet like as the rest of her bodysuit formed, then the jacket and the tail. She then posed, one hand on her side, another pulling her glasses down enough to show her eyes and give a smirk. All against a brown background with the Horse Miraculous.

** BORDER COLLIE (Dog!Max) **

"Barkk, here boy!" Max said as the dog kwami entered the collar. He held out his hand, as an energy version of the Dog Miraculous ball weapon manifested. He threw it, and it split apart in many more copies of the ball. They shot back towards Max, whom held out his arms, and allowed the balls to hit him. Each ball, once it hit, formed a piece of his dog hero outfit and mask.

Once most of the suit was formed, he smacked his fist into his palm, on the palm the baseball glove manifested. He then held out his hand as the baseball cap manifested, he put it on and the dog ears appeared in bursts of light. And striking a pose, like a baseball player ready to catch a ball, in front of a light brown background with the dog Miraculous symbol.

** HONEYBEE (Bee!Sabrina) **

"Pollen, Buzz On!" Sabrina said as Pollen entered the hair comb, which turned into a hairclip. The pompoms appeared in her hands as she shook them around as she did a cheerleader dance. The pompoms spread a pollen-like dust, which floated towards her and attached to her body, slowly forming the suit.

She shook the pompoms wildly when holding them close, slightly crouching, before jumping up and posing, the pollen fully forming into her suit. She held the pompoms to her face, obscuring her. Once she moved them away, her mask and new hairstyle had formed. She struck a pose against a yellow background with the Miraculous Bee symbol.

** MALACHITE (Turtle!Marinette) **

Wayzz, shell on!" In her transformation, Marinette drops to one knee, closes her eyes while looking down, and puts one hand onto the ground. The transformation starts at the hand she put on the ground, washing over the rest of her body, forming a green tunic, with black boots and dark green gloves.

She got up, opening her eyes as she raised her arms, as armor formed around her arms and torso. She held out her hands as a shield/shaped helmet with a turtle pattern formed. We cut to a shot of her back as she put on the helmet, as she turns around, now showing a green eye mask. She then struck a kung-fu pose, with the turlte Miraculous symbol against the green background.

** NIGHTPROWLER (Cat!Nino) **

"Rad! Now let's see what I look line with this. Plagg, claws out!" Plagg was sucked into the ring, turning it black with the neon green paw print. Nino involved break-dancing in his transformation sequence again. Only this time he was spinning on his head instead of his back, as black and green energy formed under his spinning head, and traveled up towards the rest of his body, ending at his feet.

He stops spinning, then used the spin as a momentum to land himself back on his feet. Then he pulls up the black hood with the cat ears to complete the look. He then stood there, cross armed, with a catty smirk. Of course with the neon green background with the Cat Miraculous symbol.

** SCARLET LADY (Ladybug!Chloé) **

"Tikki, Spots On!" Tikki entered the earrings that were now on Chloé. Chloé's entire body glowed in rainbow colors. She curled up as a beautiful red flower formed around her. The glower grew larger as it glowed.

The petals started opening up again, the flower blooming as Chloé, now in full Scarlet lady garb stood up. She waved her hand, and the flower falls apart, flower petals blowing inthe wind in the background, with the pink petals making a nice view with the red, Ladybug-symbol background.

** AMBER BEAUTY (Horse!Alya) **

"Kaalki, Full Gallop!" Alya's old glasses were tossed aside as she put on the horse Miraculous and Kaalki entered it. Once it does, Alya glowed an amber hue and vibrated like the flash, splitting in three vibrating images of herself, which rushed across the transformation space. Each image is fast to see, but we slow down enough to see the images each sport part of her outfit: the jacket, the suit, the ears.

The three images come together again and stop vibrating, now fully formed into Amber Beauty. She stamps her feet and pumps her fist, before posing in front of the background with the Horse Miraculous Symbol.

** UPDOG (Dog!Adrien) **

"Barkk, here boy!" Adrien said as the dog kwami entered the collar. He began running through a field, like dog happy to be in the outdoors. He makes a huge jump in the air, joy on his face as he was engulfed in a burst of brownish orange light, his suit manifesting.

Updog stood there, his ball weapon manifesting. He spins it around on his finger like a basketball, before doing a trick where he lets the ball roll across his arms, before catching it in his other hand. He took a cross-armed pose in front of the background with the dog miraculous symbol.

** A-METAL (Bee!Max) **

"Pollen, Buzz On!"Max said as Pollen enteredthe comb. The comb glowed and expanded into a helmet and visor, in a transition of honeycomb shaped- waves of energy, forming the base suit. From behind max, a series of robotic bees flew up, and attacked to parts of his body, transforming into pieces of armor.

Data was displayed on the visor of his helmet, with images of bees, Pollen and te bee Miraculous. Steam came from vents in the mechanical parts of the suit. A-Metal struck a pose in front of the yellow background wit h the Bee Miraculous symbol.

** RED FOX (Fox!Sabrina) **

"Trixx, let's pounce!" Sabrina said; The Fox Kwami entered the necklace. She jumped up, and then it seemed she was falling. Actually, she was actually lowered, softly, like she was a famous thief or spy, by strings. Orange lasers were around reminding one of a security system.

These lasers though, instead of being avoided, touched her, and the lasers formed the suit around her. As the suit has formed, she lande on the ground, and did a series of acrobatic backflips before landing and posing in front of an orange background with the fox Miraculous symbol.

** LANGREN (Dog!Marinette) **

'Barkk, here boy!" Marinette said as Barkk flew into the collar. She looked up in the sky as clouds cleared and showed a full moon with the dog Miraculous symbol. The moon glowed and a burst of moonlight fired down upon Marinette.

Once the smoke from the blast cleared, Marinette stood there in her new hero form. She opens her eyes, which turned slit-shaped and bares her new fangs and teeth, posing in front of a background with the Dog Miraculous symbol moon still present.

** TERRAPIN (Turtle!Adrien) **

"Wayzz, Shell On!" Adrien said as the turtle kwami entered the bracelet Miraculous. He produced an energy disc in the shape of the shield of the Turtle Miraculous. It splits apart in a series of pizza slice-shaped pieces. The pieces circle around him and then shoot into his body.

There was a flash of green as Adrien's new hero suit formed. He took out his shield and slid down on it like a skateboard, doing a few tricks before landing, putting the shield on his back and posing with his hands on his side in front of a green background with the turtle symbol.

** EBONY (Black Cat!Chloé) **

"Plagg, Claws out!!" Chloe held out her hand with the ring as Plagg entered it. She ran her fingers thorugh her hair, turning it into the messier look she had as Ebony, only the ears and mask also manifest as she did this.

She manifested some claws and dug them in her back, ripping her clothes off, showing an energy bodysuit underneath, with solidified into her Ebony outfit. She clawed a few times before posing in front of the neon green cat-symbol background.

** ABEILLE JAUNE (Bee!Alya) **

"Pollen, Buzz On!" Pollen flew into the comb in her hair. Alya then raised her hands as a colony of bees swarmed around her, encasing her into a honeycomb-patterned shell. The shell then starts to melt away into a honey-like substance.

As soon as the case melted, Alya stood there as Abeille Jaune. She lifted her hand, showing a piece of honeycomb, which melted away to reveal her weapon. She put it on her belt, and made her hero pose against the Bee Miraculous Background.

** SORRAIA (Horse!Sabrina) **

"Kaalki, Full Gallop!" Sabrina said as Kaalki entered the Miraculous glasses. Sabrina discards her own glasses and puts the new set on. She made a finger-gun with her hand and raised it into the air, and then 'fires' it. An energy projectile shot from her fingers into the air, split apart and the pieces fly to and attach to her body.

Of course the pieces form part of her hero suit . The last piece flew in her hand to form the stetson hat, which she put on her head and adjusted. She did a few moves resembling line-dancing before posing in front of the Horse Miraculous Background.

** AXION (Ladybug!Nino) **

"Tikki, Spots On!" Nino said as Tikki entered the earrings. He appeared as a black silhouette against a colorful background. The silhouette Nino opened his eyes, revealing colorful light, as the light travels across his body from his eyes, in a crack-like pattern.

The outer shell burst off, showing Nino in his Axion form. He pulled his cap backwords, busted some moves and then posed in front of the Ladybug Background.

** LUPINARD (Fox!Max) **

"Trixx, Let's Pounce!" Trixx was sucked into the necklace, and Max's body was engulfed in light, which stuck to his body like a bodysuit. He pulled a slick phantom thief cape out of nowhere, and put it around his shoulders as the light around his body solidified in the body portion of his outfit.

Next up he did a sleight of hand trick that makes a phantom thief mask appear, which he pout on his face, and pulled a hat out of his cape to put on his head. With that, he then makes a gallant pose and making his cape billow, in front of the Fox Miraculous Background.

\-------------------------------

Jinxx eyed the audience again. "Well, hope those were fun. The author has noted me that next week he'll try to do a normal chapter but that at least this little bit of filler at least proved entertaining. He loves doing those as the toku fanboy he is.

Now if you excuse me, I am going to paint the town purple. See ya!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't have much inspiration, I had a rough week.
> 
> So I hope this will do as a fun distraction for now.


	14. Kwami Hunter Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been a while, holidays, preparations for the move, it all kept me really busy. But glad to bring out another chapter.
> 
> This chapter is devoted to my friend, former DA artist Scott Tatt. The Kwami Hunter is his creation, and he had a scenario centered around it. Though my story went off the rails in the first season, I can still make Kwami Hunter work in my universe regardless. Hope that he likes this first part.

While Paris was the most well known for it , it wasn't the only place where heroes are. Paris' were the most well known on account of being more public, but there are others out there. Not the everyday heroes like policemen, fireman, those whom run charities ect. The type of superhero whom draws their power from magical artifacts and use it for good. One such hero had found his way to a forest in Eastern Europe, and has gotten into a fight. Though unlike with the heroes of Paris...It didn't seem he was going to win that one.

"Dad, you're hurt!" a girl about the age of the Parisian heroes said. She had red hair and pale skin. She was tall for her age. She appear thin, but not unhealthy so, and had freckles across her face.

She was bent over a tall, muscular man. He wasn't overly buff or a beefcake, but the physique of someone whom worked out and took care. The red hair and goatee was the same shade as the girl's, signifying that he was her father for sure. Right now he gritted his teeth and held his chest in pain. "Nia...my trap won't hold him for long. I'll need to hold him off. You take the box..." he pushed a hexagonal box in the hands of the girl. "...He can't get his hands on this. Go to Paris, find the heroes. They are the only one whom can stop him now."

"I won't leave you!" the girl, named Nia, cried.

"You have to. He will not think twice about killing you to get to the box. His actions bring imbalance to the world, and that imbalance will see people hurt or worse. He needs to be stopped. I know it will be hard, but you're a strong girl Nia, you will make it. You will make it in Paris, he will be stopped, and you'll be free to live your life to the fullest. Be whom you want to be." Nia's father said as he kissed her forehead. "Know that I love you, Nia. And I'm proud of you."

Nia gave her father one last hug, before breaking away and putting a cloak around her, and raising the hood. "I love you, Dad." she couldn't keep the tears out of her eyes.

"Cammo, please look after her for me." Nia's father said, turning towards a little creature floating next to Nia. A kwami, a chameleon kwami.

"I look after all my hatchlings, Master Grant." Cammo said. "I'll make sure she's safe."

A sound of breaking and a roar of rage sounded in the distance. "He broke free...run, Nia, run! Don't look back, keep safe, keep strong!" Grant shouted as Nia clenched her tear-filled eyes shut, turned around and ran like the wind.

Grant stood straight, not moving from his spot as he spoke up. "I guess this will be our final stand, old friend." from his pocket, an elephant kwami flew out. "You can still get out, Loxxo. I can give you the Miraculous and ask you to fly away..."

"I won't leave you behind. We vowed to fight together until the end. And I am a kwami of honor. My final stand will be alongside you." the Kwami, Loxxo stated.

"I am human, I would die someday. But he is the first...being that has been able to neutralize a kwami. Aren't you afraid? It must be a horrible thought for an immortal being like you." Grant asked.

"I am. But my immortality would be a curse if I deliberately would leave you behind, and I would never be able to forgive myself or live with it. I am a warrior kwami. And there would be no greater glory for me to fight with you, my friend." Loxxo answered.

"It's been a honor, old friend." He saw a shadowy figure approaching in the distance. "Are you ready."

"I came into being ready." Loxxo replied.

"Loxxo, tusks out!" Grant said. The elephant Kwami entered the earring he was wearing. It went from a plain silver to a platinum grey, and an ornament appeared on the earring, resembling a miniature elephant tusk. An elephant-inspired armor formed around his body and a helmet around his head. A battle axe appeared in his hand.

The shadowy figure had come close enough to be visible. He had dark grey robes, with a darker gray, almost black hood. A white face mask hid all his features. Had grey gloves, boots and combat boots. By his hip was a black sword and a pistol that looked like a flintlock. A round golden pin was adorned his robes. "You plan to fight me. Brave, but ultimately foolish."

"The foolish thing would have been to do nothing." the elephant hero said as he pointed his axe at the robed figure.

"You devoted your life to the abominations called kwami. But I feel generous and will give you a chance. Renounce the kwamis, hand over the Miraculouses and I will spare you and your offspring. Live a nice, quiet life." the robed figure said.

"And allow you to hurt more innocents?" Grant asked.

"Innocents? Kwamis aren't innocents. And those whom defended them were warned of what I would do if they didn't stand down. It is not my fault they refused to be reasonable."

"Sorry if I do not trust you to keep that promise." Grant pointed his axe at the stranger. "So I will stand and fight. Kwami Hunter, behold the wrath of Mastodon."

"So be it." Kwami Hunter said as he unsheathed his sword and pulled the pistol form the holster and immediately opened fire with it. Mastodon charged in, using his axe to shield himself, pushing through the blasts until he could get close and swipe with his weapon. Kwami Hunter blocked with his blade, and the weapons clashed several times, sparks were sent flying with each swipe. During one of these clashes, they tried to push each other back, trying to overpower one another.

Despite the great physical strength the Elephant Miraculous provided, the Hunter was able to match him. Neither was gaining the upper hand. But the Kwami Hunter still had his pistol and as he pushed with his blade with one arm, he pulled out his firearm and aimed. But Mastodon ducked under the shot, but lost concentration as the Kwami hunter pushed him back with his sword. Mastodon leapt backwards and then raised the axe, slamming it into the ground and creating a shockwave across the ground, but the Hunter nimbly leapt over it and landed into a tree.

Mastodon started swiping at the tree, with one swing cutting clean through the tree, but the Kwami hunter leapt out before it could fall, onto the next tree. After a few more trees were felled this way. After another tree fell the Kwami Hunter went on the offensive again, leaping up high and raising his blade. Mastodon raised his axe to block the blow and when both weapons clashed, there was a shockwave going through the area. Both were knocked back.

However, when Mastodon eyed his weapon after the clash, he saw several cracks had appeared on the blade. "Shit." Mastodon muttered. He looked at the Kwami Hunter, whom got up easily, and his blade didn't show any damage unlike his. Mastodon could swear he could feel the smug bastard grin under his mask. He opened fire with his pistol again. Of course mastodon's instinct was to block with his axe, but when the shots hit this time, pieces of the blade started breaking off.

The final shot shattered the axe's blade completely, leaving only the handle and a tiny piece of jagged metal and knocked Mastodon down. Kwami Hunter closed the distance as he rushed towards Mastodon with his blade held high. Mastodon didn't hesitate and lashed with the remnants of the axe, slamming it into the Hunter's shoulder with the last piece of the jagged metal still attached. The Hunter screamed out in pain. Mastodon wanted to aim for the head, but it had been a bit off. But still, he got a good hit in.

But the Kwami Hunter wasn't down as he punched Mastodon in the face, knocking him back, before aiming his gun and blasting him in the chest. The armored breastplate took most of the damage, but now it had a big smoky dent in it, and Mastodon felt a bruise under the spot where he was shot. Kwami Hunter pulled out the axe and threw it away over the horizon, leaving Mastodon without a weapon.

But that didn't deter the pachyderm hero as he rushed in, ready to cave the Kwami hunter's face in with his fist. The Kwami Hunter lashed with his blade, but Mastodon caught it in between his hands. His arms trembled keeping the blade in place. And before Kwami hunter could aim his pistol, Mastodon kicked him in the stomach, making him drop his gun and loose grip on his blade. Now Mastodon held it and lashed at the hunter with his own weapon.

The Hunter was skilled though, moving out of the way of the jab Mastodon delivered with his blade, then grabbed Mastodon's arm in a strong grip, using his foot to kick the discarded gun from the ground in his other hand, and pressed it against the upper armor, where the elbow was and fired. Mastodon roared in pain as his arm hung limply by his side as he clenched his teeth in pain.

But he was far from done. "Maximize!" Mastodon muttered as he started to grow giant-sized. He had only one shot, not able to train as much with the elephant as he wanted to, and having found it late in life he couldn't grow into the Miraculous as easily as someone as young as his daughter. But if he played it right, he could do some damage. So he raised one of his feet and brought it down, trying to crush the Kwami Hunter, whom had to run faster and dodge more frantically to prevent himself from becoming the Kwami Hunter street pizza.

However, after stomping didn't work, Mastodon instead changed strategy. Instead of lifting up his leg after bringing it down, he swept it upwards, kicking the Kwami hunter into the air, then punch him out of the air when he was at eye-level. Kwami Hunter landed with a thud. He groaned as the attack may have broken a few of his bones. Any other person may have been dead, but this huntsman was merely hurt. Mastodon knew this and raised his leg again to deliver the finishing blow, until...

"Argh!" Mastodon held his arm in pain. Note to self: growing in size with an open would in your arm is a bad idea, it makes it a lot worse. It gave the Kwami Hunter an opening. He was in pain, but fought through it to continue his mission. He grabbed his blade and slashed at the leg of the giant Mastodon, somewhere in a gap between the armor. Mastodon roared as he collapsed onto his knees. Then kwami Hunter got an opening again. He grabbed his gun and aimed at the earring, which was now a bigger and easier target to hit .

The shot fired, knocking the earring Miraculous off his ear, and also blasting off a chunk of his ear while he was at it. Grant shrank down and detransformed as the earring fell to the ground, bloodied, and turned back in its camouflaged form and Loxxo shot out, bouncing across the ground before falling. Loxxo tried to get up, but Kwami Hunter stepped on him, pinning the kwami down, whom screeched out in pain. He couldn't phase out, everything about the Kwami Hunter's gear was...well, kwami-proof. "You did better then most...but it wasn't enough."

"Leave him alone!" Grant was hurt, one arm and one leg plus an ear out of the question but he still stood up and charged at the Kwami Hunter. Kwami Hunter had no problem into grabbing Grant and slamming him into the ground.

Kwami Hunter readied his gun. "I gave you a chance. But in the end it doesn't matter, because either way, you are freed from a life of kwami slavery. You should be grateful." He aimed at Grant's head.

"Go to hell!" Grant said as he spat on the Kwami Hunter, whom didn't flinch. He just pulled the trigger.

What was left of Grant's head was a smoking, burning black spot on the ground. The Hunter put his gun away, back in its holster. "You're welcome." he muttered softly. He then picked up Loxxo from under his boot, and his earring Miraculous as well. "Now, as for you..."

"I'm not afraid of you." Loxxo said.

"I don't want you to be afraid!" Kwami Hunter said as a gauntlet formed across his hand, which started to spark with oddly poison green energy. "I want you to be gone." His gauntlet glowed with energy as he slammed the palm of his hand onto Loxxo and the ring, the little kwami letting out a scream, sounding like the trumpeting of a scared elephant as he was engulfed into a glow.

The Kwami changed into a sort of energy form...and then his being dispersed, into a million particles of light, and shot out in all directions. The glow on the gauntlet died down as now in his hands he only held a rusted, cracked earring. He pulled out a bag, in it were a few other rusted, cracked items. Trophies of past hunts. He added the Elephant to it. Once he did that, he groaned in pain as he held his ribs. The last fight took a bit out of him. He would need to rest up and heal before continuing his hunt.

Luckily he heals fast. And while Mastodon made sure to stall him long enough to make sure his child got away, he would find that child. He knew where the child would go, and it would lead him to more prey to hunt. He never got to hunt on this massive scale, an entire pack. It would be his greatest hunt yet. And he would succeed, he would get them. He always got his prey.

Nia got a great distance, making it close to civilization with the head start her father had provided. She felt a jab in her heart. The moment she felt that she knew...her father was gone. He must have fought long and hard, but it was no use. Nia didn't slow down though. She had to keep going. Her chameleon kwami peaked from under her hood. "Nia...I'm so sorry." He floated towards her face and gave her an affectionate headbutt, as she stroked his back, grateful for the comfort.

Cammo hid again as Nia came to a halt, just outside of the town. She wanted to cry, but she fought back her tears. She still had a thing to do. She would grief later. But her safety and that of her cargo was paramount, and so was reaching Paris. She needed help to take down this...monster. Then she'd grief. "Cammo...Blend in!"

Cammo entered one of her dual hairclips, which formed into orb-like hairpieces shaped like chameleon eyes, as a green bodysuit formed, with a yellow belly. A whip hung from a black belt, curled on her lower back like a chameleon's tale. She had a green domino mask and a headband from which a chameleon-like horn sported. She had clawed gloves as well, these gloved hands now hugging herself as she tries to keep it together a little longer. "Camouflage!' she muttered.

Her costume changes colors rapidly, from red to orange, yellow , pink, blue, and any other color you can imagine. Before there was a ripple effect and where Nia once stood, now stood a boy. Plain and unimpressive, wouldn't stand out in a crowd. It was perfect for keeping low until she could continue on. It always felt weird, shape-shifting in someone else. She literally doesn't feel good in her skin, and the current form didn't help. She sighed.

"I promise, dad...I will see it to the end. And I promise...I will cry, I will hurt. I will miss you. But I'll do as you ask and live my life to the fullest. I have to finish it, I can't let it all be for nothing." she thought to herself, and then the disguised wielder walked into town, blended into the masses and vanished form sight.

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, the Kwami Hunter lives up to his name. I came up with Nia to fulfill two specific roles. I had her character in mind and her arc, but it took long to give her a name, a kwami and a look. She may not be recurring in season two after this episode, but she'll be important in later entries. But that's not for now.
> 
> I like elephants so I made her father Grant the wielder. Loxxo is named after a genus of elephants, the Loxodonta. And Mastodon is a type of prehistoric elephant. Also, Grants's hero person is a not so subtle reference to one of my fav franchises, can you guess which?
> 
> Cammo is far more straight forward, with chameleon, camouflage...but a chameleon is cool and stealth based kwamis sound useful. 
> 
> I had fun with the fight scene. I had to establish Kwami hunter is a threat. He is skilled and he can take a lot of punishment. But I also want to see that while it is difficult he is not invulnerable, at least not completely. To show he is tough, but he can be overcome, but it will not be easy. 
> 
> I may try to update more frequently now, but no promises. The updates willy only be more regular after the move is over, in februari I guess. 
> 
> In the meantime, enjoy the read, please have your comments be constructive and I am glad for your support. No worries, I am not dead and I'm not going anywhere, I want to see this series to the end.


	15. Kwami Hunter Part II

It took over a month, but Nia made it into France. It was not an easy feat to stay hidden, but the Kwami of Concealment on your side does make sure that even the most experienced trackers cannot easily find you. Though the time for stealth would be over real soon, as the help she seeks are public figures. And operating outside of her natural element is a bit uneasy. But they were her only hope.

Having donned a guise thanks to Camouflage, Nia had disguised herself again. Lots of pink, blonde hair, bimbo look, totally unexpected and hence ideal for her disguise. But for the next step she needed a vantage point. And she found it.

She sighed as she looked at the giant structure in question. It became the center of many battles in this city. It was like everyone needed to be reminded they were French or something. "Eiffel Tower it is." she muttered as she dodged into an alleyway and dropped her disguise. But she didn't de-transform so she turned largely invisible instead, the invisible Miraculous user crawling up the side of the Eiffel tower, like the patron lizard her form was based upon, scaling the surfaces.

She had crawled to the top. The same place where there was a room with the statue of Mr. Eiffel himself where the heroes had their final confrontation with Zombizou. "Cammo, stand out!" she said, as she turned back to her civilian form. The Chameleon Kwami looked at her. "We're here. Enjoy the view." she said dryly.

"It is rather nice...But we can't enjoy it for now." Cammo said. Any other time they would have loved to take in the scene. Nia, her and her father being travelers and adventurers would revel in seeing new sights. But without him, it felt empty. "I should be able to make the call from here. But I need a refill first."

"I still got a hamburger in my pocket. It's a bit squished, though." Nia said as she pulled out a was paper wrapped hamburger from a cheap fastfood joint out of her pocket. 'Cheap' was the keyword as she had to save up whatever money she could for travels and these type of cheap hamburgers could be bought everywhere. She hoped that once the dust could settled, she could afford some more nutritious meals.

"It'll do." Cammo said, whom desperate for energy didn't mind a bit of pocket-aged burger. Unwrapping the paper and shoving the bun and ketchup-covered patty in his mouth. He chewed as fast as he could and swallowed. He had a grimace as the old, cheap junkfood left a bad taste in his mouth.

"You believe it is right? To drag them into this conflict? They have their own battles at the moment." Nia asked.

"They are wielders of the Miraculous, they need to know. It would be a matter of time before the Hunter would catch up to them. Best they be prepared. They are experienced, they are numerous, they are what we need." Cammo explained.

"I know but...I don't know if I can bear anyone throw away their lives for me." Nia said as her hands clenched into fists.

"It's not like we can do it on our own. And these wielders are true heroes, they would not stand by idly. I know it has been you, your dad and a few kwamis for a while. But there are times that you have to reach out to others. And even Chameleons can't afford to fade in the background all the time." Cammo said.

Nia sighed. "I feel pathetic, Cammo! They, those heroes, they were chosen. Me and dad, we like to think we are good people but...we were lucky to find you. I feel like I haven't earned...I am not worthy...I ran away...and left Dad to die." She started crying. "I promised to remain strong until it was all over, but I can't..."

Cammo floated over and hugged her cheek. "You did no such thing. Your dad asked you to. To make sure someone would live on, to protect the box, to reach out to those whom can end the fight. It took a lot of guts to go through with that request, it was not an easy to make. You are strong, Nia."

Nia wiped some tears from her eyes. "I hope we can get through this...I wouldn't want him to win. I wouldn't bear to lose you too. You're all I have left."

"I will not leave you. If there is one things we chameleons excel at, it is not being caught." Cammo said. Nia still looked devastated, but she forces a small smile. "Now, I am going to call my Kwami brethren. I haven't done this in a while, so it may take a moment." Cammo sat as he flew up. He then started to chant in Kwami tongue...

At the abandoned warehouse district...it was often used as a training ground or meeting spot by the heroes. Due to strings pulled by former Mayor Bourgeois and later Mayor Lavillant, it was closed off to the public and solely used by the heroes for their private training, and other activities.

In one of the empty warehouses, the group of heroes were brewing potions. Not only did they need to make some power-ups, but some other magical liquids that may prove helpful further down the line. Marinette and Adrien had, at this point, their fair share of experience with the potions. And Alya, Nino and Chloé had been catching up nicely ever since they became permanent team members. So while the other team members are still getting down the basics, the five of them cold already work on the more complex potions.

It was necessary because Fu's age caught up with him ever since the Turtle was passed on to Nino, and he no longer had the dexterity in his hands for something as precise as potion brewing.

"Mandrake, eye of newt, toe of frog...whom knew those were actually a thing to use in potions and not ramblings of some writers?" Alya asked as she looked at the jars of ingredients Fu had given them for the project.

"Well, if mystical beasts are real, then several stories and poems about the magical world may also have had a base in real life." Nino argued.

"It is so totally gross!" Chloé said. She was wearing a complete hazmat suit.

"Why are you wearing that? We got magical protection." Alya asked.

"Those potion fumes would ruin my complexion and hair otherwise." she huffed, as much as she could with her suit.

"Where did you even get that?" Marinette asked.

"I have connections." Chloé just replied.

The heroes decided to let it go and finish the current batch of potion they are brewing. "You know, I can't believe of all potions we could be brewing, this is the one." Adrien said. "It has been a source of problems."

"Knowing what this potion did to Gabriel and Nathalie, it is understandable. But in a less concentrated and more diluted form, it could be used for more restorative purposes." Marinette said as she grabbed some bottles and some funnels, and proceeded to ladle the liquid in the bottles.

"If it wasn't for that, I'd rather not have starting brewing it." Adrien said. The potion is just a reminder of the pain it had helped causing.

"You know it would be easy, right?" Marinette said as she eyed one of the potion bottles. She sighed. "One sip and you get a power boost..."

"But there would be a price. Your health, your sanity, or worse." Tikki warned Marinette.

"I know that. But...I am not processing with my healing powers as much as I want to. And we still don't aren't any closer to finding Latombe either. I am frustrated." Marinette said.

"I don't blame you Marinette." Adrien said as he took her hand. "I want to see Nathalie and Mom healed, but I don't want it at the cost of your well-being."

"Short-cuts are never a good option when using the Miraculous." Plagg added. "Believe me, the last user whom tried that the last time with my Miraculous that was a total disaster. You don't want to know."

"He's right, we were there, you really don't." Pollen said, shaking her head.

"No one blames you, because we know that in the end, you always get it right." Alya noted.

"That's how we know you. You work hard and push through. Sometimes a little. If we weren't helping you with this potion project here, you'd have crashed again." Nino noted.

"You'd totally have spiraled again." Chloé said. "It's sometimes easy with bad habits. I should tell. My first time trying to compliment someone after finally deciding to pull my head out of my own arse was 'your fashion sense could be worse'. And now look at me."

"Chloé, you are in a full on hazmat suit." Alya droned.

"Screw you Césaire, I was having a moment!" Chloé droned back.

This got a chuckle out of Marinette. Adrien smiled. "You can still laugh. That is something good." He cupped her cheek. "I hate to see that pretty face sullied by a frown." Marinette blushed and smiled.

"Get a room!" Chloé told.

"You ad Luka are just as bad ans so are Alya and Nino." Marinette reminded them.

"They really are." Pollen, Wayzz and Trixx verified.

"Traitors." Nino, Alya and Chloé mumbled.

Suddenly, the kwami all jerked up like they noticed something. They blinked a few times. "Er...Tikki, what is going on?"

"A bit of quiet, Pigtails! We're trying to listen..." Plagg muttered. They blinked a few more times. "Yup, that is definitely a fellow kwami reaching out to us.

"But it is neither Jinx or one from our set." Wayzz added.

"A kwami is calling out to you?" Marinette asked, making sure she heard that right.

"Your powers are all growing, you may pick up something if you focus." Tikki said softly, still trying to concentrate on the sensation.

Marinette frowned as she tried to focus. She knew that with her growing powers she may detect other magic more easily, but she hasn't been able to focus on that one much. "I feel something...Like a ringing in my ear, without my ear actually feeling it."

"Yeah, it is vague, but I feel something." Adrien noted.

"It is a weird...Buzz?" Chloé asked.

"A fellow kwami is reaching out for help. This needs to be investigated." Wayzz noted.

"Then we transform and check this out." Marinette said as she packed up a few things, and made sure the batch that is currently stewing was secure without blowing up in their absence or something.

"If it is a kwami not from our circle, I wonder what it can be? A new hero? A new Hawkmoth?" Nino wondered. It was worrying indeed.

"We'll just have to thread carefully." Alya responded.

"I got everything I need, let's transform and bug out!" Marinette said. A few mutters of their respective transformation phrases, and the heroes were on their way.

Cammo stopped chanting mid-way as he opened his eyes ad his head jerked up. "They have noticed me, and they are on their way." the chameleon kwami noted.

Nia was a bit relieved. However, she also got a bit nervous because she was soon going to be talking to honest to kwami Miraculous heroes, famous in their own right while she was a rookie and an amateur and felt a bit shell-shocked.

Cammo touched her shoulder with his paw. "Hey, it'll be ok." he assured her. Nia gulped and nodded, but said nothing.

Soon she saw colorful blurs jumping across the rooftops in the distance. Red, black, orange, green and yellow. Those blurs soon jumped off, then climbed onto the Eiffel Tower, or in case of the red and yellow flying towards the top. Nia took a deep breath, as soon she found the heroes having made the way to the top and now stood in front of her. They eyed her curiously.

She had to say something...anything. Ok, not something long and drawn out that may come over as fangirl-y. She wasn't huge on making big speeches so she had to keep it simple. "Hi?" Ok, too simple.

Cammo sighed as he moved from Nia's side and into the view of the heroes. "Greetings, Heroes of Paris. I am Cammo, Kwami of Concealment. And this is my wielder Peonia Grandstone."

"Call me Nia." she said shyly and awkwardly. She felt stupid for that answer.

"Anyhow, we came here to ask for your help." Cammo said as he bowed his head slightly. Nia didn't know if she had to bow, but she did it, stiffly and awkwardly.The heroes looked a bit confused but alert. Cammo resumed his talk: "A threat to all things Miraculous looms over the horizon. Unable to deal with it ourselves, we humbly request your help."

Nia took out her backpack, and pulled out a box with various other Miraculi. "M-m-my family has found several lost Miraculi. They are dormant but...to ensure their safety, we are willing to leave them in your care." She said as she held out the box.

Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo, opened it up and moved it across the surface of the box, as if to scan it. After she did it a few times, she closed up her yo-yo and said: "It is clean."

"Whoa, then...a whole set of lost Miraculi?" Rena Rouge asked.

"Actually, it is more pickings from various sets around the world, forming a temporary set until their old ones could be completed..." Nia said. She saw the eyes were on her. "Never mind."

"It still brings a question to mind: what about you and Cammo?" Chat Noir asked.

"Please don't take Cammo away please..." Nia asked. She was close to tearing up again. "he's all I have left."

"I...wasn't going to suggest that." Chat noted.

"She clearly has gone through quite a bit, I mean that was an intense reaction." Queen Bee noted.

"She has suffered great loss." Carapace said. "I know that look because I have seen that before...every time I looked into the mirror."

Nia had a look of shock on her face as Carapace was able to deduce that. She opened her mouth and closed it several times, gaping like a fish. "W-what are you going to do now?"

"I know you said you won't take me away. I wouldn't be able to ber that either, she is my chosen." Cammo said.

"It will depend. We will need to discuss things with the Guardian. We will have to take you along. But we will have to blindfold you, to make sure the location remains secret. And while we have no intention to separate you from Cammo, for safety reasons I have to ask you hand over the Miraculous until we are able to verify everything." Ladybug said.

Nia fumbled with the hair clips. Reluctant to hand them over, as they gave her comfort, her connection to Cammo. Part of her understood their standpoint though. THey have been fighting Hawkmoth, and now they are fighting some sort of mad scientist. Powerful enemies may be after them. Cammo floats towards her and puts his paw on her hand. "It'll be fine. They won't separate us."

Nia nodded. She could trust Cammo's judgement right? She undid the clips and handed them to Ladybug. Rena summoned her display with her flute. The fox heroine said: "I am sending a message to the Master. He will know what to do."

"Ok then." Ladybug said as she pulled a piece of cloth from her yo-yo. As a fashion designer,she always had pieces of cloth in her purse. Mostly for comparison when she got shopping for fashion accessories, or to make small things on the fly. "Please put this on."

Nia took the cloth and put it around her eyes. She was nervous, but not overly so. "Get on my back. Hold on tight, the right may be a bit bumpy." he noted. Nia did as told as they prepared to take off. "Not jealous because I'm carrying another girl, Milady?"

"I have more faith in you than that, kitty!" Ladybug said. Both knew they were merely jesting. She and Queen Bee opened their wings, while Chat, Rena and Carapace climbed down carefully from the Eiffel Tower towards their destination.

They had headed towards Fu's parlor, thought they were careful to see if they were not being followed. As they entered, the did several more checks for any type of magical or normal trackers. Only when they were a hundred percent sure they were safe, they went in. Nia's blindfold was undone, and she sat on the ground, right across Master Fu, whom was wearing a set of robes and a mask Marinette had made for him (she was making one of these for all Miraculous wielders as well). Her Miraculous Box was stationed on the ground, in front of Fu, with Cammo perched on top.

Nia fumbled with her hair, out of nervousness. She could feel the old man's eyes through the mask. Fu decided to put her out of her misery and not keep her in waiting for too long. "So, Miss Grandstone...What can you tell us about these Miraculous and this threat you want to warn us of?"

Nia took a deep breath. "My family...we are part of a group called the New Guardians. People whom unlike most of the world, prior to the Miraculous heroes becoming public again, have not forgotten about the world of Magic. They study the legends, including those of the Miraculous. Most of the families part of the group have been trying to find the lost Miraculous for centuries. To verify the stories, to make sure that if they exist or they don't fall in the wrong hands."

"Have you heard of them before, Master?" Ladybug asked.

"I had allies and secret keepers in the past, though New Guardians...I have started to create a Guardian group until recently. Despite calling in allies at times, I mostly bore the burden on my own." Master Fu replied.

"The fist family to become part of the New Guardians is said to have worked with the last of the old Guardians. That must be you, right?" Nia asked.

"Oh...Now I remember something. Ulysses Grandstone, famous explorer?" Master Fu asked.

"My great-great-grandpappy!" Nia answered.

"Ah yes...shortly after the order had fallen and I was all that was left, I needed to turn elsewhere to learn some skills. Survival, exploration, archeology, anything that could help...and Ulysses taught me a lot. He was also one of the early ones I lent a Miraculous." Master Fu remembered.

"Yes, his family and several others you had allied with in the past decided to devote themselves of learning more of the world o magic on their own. My family, we found a few as you can see. But they have been dormant for quite a while and we were not able to awaken all of them." Nia continued. She looked at Cammo.

"That was quite a nap, I'm telling you." Cammo added.

"But if there was such a thing as the New Guardians, why haven't they revealed themselves to us until now?" Chat asked.

"Most of the families retired from the magic business over time. Some thought that since you heroes had anything in hand, they didn't need to interfere. Others wanted to be left alone. Most families actually lost their devotion to it over time, mostly forgetting about it or no longer caring. Not always for selfish reasons, some wanted to build their family business in something less dangerous but still...My families is one of the few whom still was mostly devoted to the study of the Miraculous." Nia continued.

"Seeing that you gathered these Miraculi, that's easy to see." Rena Rouge noted.

"Me and my Dad Grant, we travel the world, see a lot of nice places. Learn about the culture and past...and finding these Miraculi. However, the downside of having magical items of great power, is that you draw attention. And not always from the right people." Nia's hands clenched into fists as she shuddered and tears formed in her eyes. "I can't..."

"What if I take it from here?" Cammo suggested. He felt how his Chosen was having difficulty. Nia nodded slightly. Everyone felt the urge to hug the poor girl. Cammo floated up and started explaining: "It is where the threat we want to warn you about is coming in. He is called the Kwami Hunter."

"We don't know whom he is or where he came from, but one thing issure: he hates kwamis. Is convinced that they are abominations, that they don't belong in this world. That they needed to be destroyed."

"I...thought that kwamis are immortal? That should not be possible, right?" Queen Bee asked.

"We cannot die, but that doesn't mean that he found a way to...to stop us. He can disperse our being to a point that we cannot maintain our physical forms in this world...or remain conscious. It is like being trapped in an eternal sleep without a physical body to return to and wake up." Cammo explained.

This quite shocked the heroes. "Dude, that is awful. That is not exactly death but it sounds worse than that." Carapace said, a hint of fear and disgust in his voice at the idea.

"And it gets worse. The Kwami Hunter...Nia's father Grant and a few more active New Guardian families were confronted by him. Several were killed by the Hunter for standing by the kwamis, than dispersing their Kwamis and keeping their broken Miraculi as trophies.

For decades he hunted down the families, driving several to extinction. Several times, though not without losses, he was defeated and believed to be gone for good. But he always managed to re-emerge a few years later, stronger then ever to start his rampage all over again. And once again, he re-emerged over a month ago, and by that point there weren't many of the New Guardians left and among them few had any skill or training to stand a chance against them." Cammo said sadly as he hung his head. "We Nia's dad and his kwami partner Loxxo...they bought us the time we needed to escape. But..."

Cammo stopped floating and settled on top of the box again. Along with Nia tearing up, told the heroes everything they needed to know. Nia found her voice again. "He took my dad away from me...and I could do nothing about it. He asked me to find you. You are the only ones that can stop him...I know I ask a lot of you, because you have your own villains to fight but..."

Ladybug put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll help."

"We have vowed that as heroes we don't turn down a cry for help." Chat Noir added.

"That hunter won't get away with this. How dare he hurt all those poor kwamis? How dare he do that to all these innocent people." Queen Bee added.

Carapace's fists clenched as a look of fury came over him. It wasn't explosive like last time, but it was more of a cold fury. "I know all to well, the feeling of losing a loved one to a madman. No one should have to go through that."

Rena put a hand on Carapace's shoulder "We'll make sure it won't happen to anyone ever again if we have to say anything about it." Carapace put his hand over the one Rena had on his shoulder. They shared a look of understanding.

"If the Kwami Hunter is indeed as big of a threat as she says he is, then we need to gather everyone. They need to be made aware. We do not want to be caught unaware by him." Ladybug said as she dialed away on her yo-yo to warn the others. "They will meet at our usual spot. We will have to compare notes."

"You coming, chameleon girl?" Rena Rouge asked.

"Me? You want me to come?" Nia asked.

"You are one of us right? You are a wielder." Chat Noir pointed out.

"Besides, you know more about the Kwami Hunter then the rest of us, so we need you on the briefing. Besides, you may want to learn a few tricks from us fellow wielders in return?" Queen Bee suggested.

Nia's teary eyes lit up a bit. She reached out her hands so Cammo can fly into them. "I'm not hero material though. I...merely found the Miraculous with my dad and bonded a bit. But no real heroics.

"Heroics is not always about punching a bad guy. Though that bit is fun. You risking your life to bring us the Miraculous and warning us about the threat is a form of heroics as well." Chat said.

"You...are quick to believe me. And I want to be believed but...You are quick to put your faith into me." Nia noted.

"This place doesn't look like much but believe me, it is quite secure. if you were the kind of person that we didn't want to find this place...we wouldn't have been able to bring you here. Between this and our earlier scans, we have no reason to doubt you." Ladybug said.

"And we've seen some weird shit already, a kwami Hunter is not out of the question." Rena Rouge said.

"That, and the hurt I see on your face. It is real. I recognize it when I see it." Carapace noted.

"That and we know we can take you when you try something." Queen Bee said.

Master Fu held up the hair clips to Nia. "It is always good to have more allies, certainly during dark times."

Nia took the hair clips. She put them back in her hair. She looked tired and still sad, but she let out a smile. "I thank you. For listening. For lending your aid."

"Thank us when we got the chance to kick that hunter's ass first." Queen Bee said. "you coming, lizard girl?"

Nia eyed Cammo, whom looked at each other. They nodded. Nia took a breath and muttered: "Cammo, Blend in!" In a flash of green light, she turned into her chameleon-inspired hero form.

"So...What do we call you when you are like this?" Chat asked.

She was silent for a few moments, like she was thinking things over. "Antimena." she said. They looked in confusion at her. She decided to explain "Furcifer Antimena, a genus of Chameleon." They blinked. "I looked up a lot about chameleons ever I got Cammo." she further elaborated as she shrugged.

"Oh, can you use that whip to swing around?" Rena asked as she pointed at the chameleon tail shaped whip at her waist.

"To be honest, I normally stick to walls. But it may have that power." Antimena said as she scratched her head.

"Then Queenie and Ladybug may teach you the ropes!" Chat Noir said as he pointed finger-guns at her. Everyone blinked. "Get it? Ropes, because the yo-yo and trompo have strings?"

"Chat, I love you, but your puns are not funny." Ladybug quipped.

"You love them in secret!" Chat said with his usual grin.

"I do not." Ladybug muttered.

"It was a good try bro!" Carapace said to Chat.

"Stop encouraging him." Rena said. "You know how insufferable he is when it is about his corny jokes."

"Won't make a difference. I know for a fact that he began making those ever since he learned to talk. We're stuck with him." Queen Bee added.

Antimena blinked a few more times. These were Paris' heroes? "You guys are total dorks!" she muttered. They looked at her and busted out into laughter. Antimena couldn't help herself, she joined in the laughter. "Why am I laughing? I'm supposed to be sad."

"It means that you are hurt, but not broken." Carapace said. "There is a bit of hopefulness inside you, for the future. That you may hurt and cry later but there is a chance for you to rise up and keep on living?"

"You...you seem to get me. You know what I went through. You have gone through the same." Antimena noted.

"Takes one to know another." Carapace replied.

"Does it ever get easier?" Antimena asked.

"Not really. You never get truly over it. It marks you. But you learn to live with it. And you learn to appreciate what you still have." Carapace looked at his friends and girlfriend.

Antimena fumbled with her Miraculous hair clips, gently rubbing the chameleon eye-shaped protrusions. She still had Cammo. And Cammo was family. He was still looking over her. And hell if she would let that Hunter get his hands on him. She would be by him, as Cammo always have been for her. "I...I think I get it." She gave a small smile to Nino.

"Let us meet with the others, we still got plenty to do." Ladybug suggested.

"Try to keep up, rookie!" Queen Bee jested.

Antimena pondered for a bit. She realized she no longer was alone in the fight. It was going to be difficult without her father. But she got allies now. She would not call them friends though. At least not yet. They hadn't hesitated to come to her aid when she asked, they had listened, they had taken her seriously. She was not being talked down to. They even try to make her feel welcome. She thinks that she would like to work with them. And she felt Like she stood a chance against Kwami Hunter now.

Speaking of which, Kwami Hunter had taken a look at the Miracle log as he was on his way to Paris. Footage of the heroes, being praised by the people of Paris. It disgusted him. "Turning those kids in their own little pawns and figureheads while enthralling the people with power...I will not allow them to string the people of Paris along. They don't realize their heroes get powers from being that will bring ruin." He started to crush the phone in his hand in frustration. "But they have a larger pack then the other 'Chosen'. I will have to thread carefully. But I will win out in the end. A hunter always gets his prey."

TO BE CONTINUED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, after all this time. The move has taken up most of my time, but even after living in it for two weeks, I still had to deal with some paperwork, fallout, work and other things. But finally I could make another chapter again. No promises but I'll try to update more often from this point onwards, it should be more manageable from here. Should be...
> 
> So Nia reaches our heroes and tells the about the New Guardians. That will be important not only in this fic but future entries in the Miraculous Alliance series. Stands to reason that the Order of Guardians were not the only one dabbling in the mystical. 
> 
> OUt of all the wielders, Nino would be able to relate to Nina the most having lost a parent after all.
> 
> And finally settled on a name for Nia's transformation. The transformation sequence I keep for a future chapter.
> 
> And the other Miraculouses she brought will be brought up in future chapters, but they are dormant for now. But they will eventually be touched upon.

**Author's Note:**

> Finally, after months of cooldown, life being a bitch and writer's block, behold the first chapter of the second season of my Miraculous Ladybug series, Miraculous Alliance!
> 
> I decided to start off straight with the action, seeing how the heroes old and new work together while building up a few of the new threats.
> 
> While the next few chapters show more outside battle interactions, there will also be the interludes like the first season where we take a look at individual heroes or characters and their moments during their daily lives outside heroing.
> 
> Hope you enjoy, and hope you also are with me throughout this second season of my series.


End file.
